Cameras, interfaces highlight vision gathering
-- Test & Measurement World, 5/15/2006 12:48:00 PM
The Automated Imaging Association (AIA) chose The Vision Show East (May 9-11, 2006, Boston) to formally introduce its GigE Vision standard, and many exhibitors demonstrated compliant cameras or otherwise indicated their support for the new interface. Also on display were frame grabbers, development tools, illumination products, and support for other interfaces.
Among camera makers, Dalsa Coreco (www.dalsa-coreco.com) demonstrated a 15-camera, 4-computer GigE Vision application deployed throughout its booth. National Instruments (www.ni.com) indicated its support by announcing that it has added GigE Vision capability to its image-acquisition software. Pleora Technologies (www.pleora.com) demonstrated its iPORT AutoGEV software mapping technology, which speeds the task of complying with the GigE Vision standard.
But interfaces such as FireWire, Camera Link, and USB also found support at the show. AutoGEV, for example, allows most Camera Link cameras to operate seamlessly within GigE Vision-compliant applications. Matrox Imaging (www.matrox.com) announced support for GigE Vision in the form of a driver for the Matrox Imaging Library but in addition indicated FireWire support by introducing an IEEE 1394b adapter card for its 4SightM industrial vision computer. Newnex Technology (www.newnex.com) demonstrated its IEEE 1394b optical repeaters, which extend 800-Mbps Firewire performance over distances to 10 km.
Several vendors aimed to help speed image-processing tasks. MathStar (www.mathstar.com), for instance, introduced its Machine Vision Library for the fabless semiconductor company's Field Programmable Object Array (FPOA) devices. The first two machine-vision IP cores in the library handle color space conversion and flat field error correction. MathStar announced that frame-grabber maker Alacron (www.alacron.com), which wasn't exhibiting at the show, has become an FPOA customer. Celoxica (www.celoxica.com) was on hand to highlight its design tools for accelerating video and imaging algorithms on FPGAs from Xilinx (www.xilinx.com), Altera (www.altera.com), and others; the tools can be adapted to target ASICs for high-volume applications. In addition, Matrox Imaging debuted its FPGA developer's kit, designed for programming FPGAs found on Matrox Solios frame grabbers and Odyssey Xpro+ vision processors.
Among other vendors of board-level products, Active Silicon (www.activesilicon.com) demonstrated PCI Express versions of its LFG and Phoenix frame grabbers. Euresys (www.euresys.com) highlighted its Picolo Alert PCIe video capture card, which features a 1-lane PCI Express interface and can digitize 240 fps.
Among new illumination products, StockerYale (www.stockeryale.com) introduced a new SpecBright line of LED modules, which come in area, line, ring, and spot formats; its Flat Top Generator laser-beam shaping module, which converts a Gaussian beam into one having a focused flat-top profile; and its Lasiris Slick laser, which optimized line uniformity. Edmund Optics (www.edmundoptics.com) previewed its EOS illumination technology, which combines LED sources with fiber-optic delivery. EOS provides for independent red, blue, and green illumination channels with DC output and strobe capability.
But the bulk of products on display were cameras. Toshiba Teli (www.toshiba-teli.com), for example, showcased its new CS6910G industrial camera, which incorporates Sony's Super CCD Honeycomb color sensor and which conforms to the GigE Vision protocol. The camera can stream non-compressed RGB 24-bit color video at up to 30 fps at 1280x960-pixel resolution (SXGA) over CAT5e cabling to a host PC positioned up to 300 feet away.
Basler-VC (www.basler-vc.com) introduced its Scout and Pioneer camera families, which feature resolutions from VGA to 2 Mpixels. The Scout cameras are based on Sony CCD sensors and come with GigE and FireWire-b interfaces; Pioneer cameras are based on Kodak CCD sensors and come equipped GigE interfaces. Cameras in both families feature a GenICam-compliant API.
Imperx (www.imperx.com) introduced two software utilities designed to provide extended access to its line of Lynx Camera Link and GigE cameras. The FFC Processor utility allows users to create their own flat field correction (FFC) files, while the DPC Processor utility enables them to create defective-pixel-map files.
Sony (www.sony.com/videocameras) introduced a version of its XCI-SX1 smart camera that comes with Linux preinstalled and that's compatible with Windows XP Embedded. Featuring an AMD processor, flash storage, Ethernet connectivity, and a USB port, the SCI-SX1 incorporates Sony's 0.5-in. SXGA (15 fps) progressive-scan black and white CCD and operates at 34 fps in VGA mode. Sony also previewed its XCI-V3, which features 60-fps frame rates at VGA resolution.
PPT Vision (www.pptvision.com) highlighted its new Impact A-10 intelligent camera, which supports Gigabit Ethernet communications and comes bundled with the company's Impact software suite. JAI Pulnix (www.jaipulnix.com) displayed its GigE and dual-tap AccuPixel cameras.
Dage-MTI (www.dagemti.com) launched the XLM, the latest addition to its Excel line of IIDC-compliant FireWire digital cameras. The imager has a 2048 x 2048 format based on Kodak’s (www.kodak.com/go/imagers) KAI-4021M progressive-scan interline sensor.
Allied Vision Technologies (www.alliedvisiontec.com) demonstrated families of FireWire cameras, including its Guppy, which includes 10 models offering IEEE 1394a interfaces and a choice of CMOS and CCD sensors, and the Pike, which includes 20 models offering IEEE 1394b interfaces and CCD sensors. Point Grey Research (www.ptgrey.com) debuted its Flea2 IEEE 1394b camera, which delivers 80 fps of VGA quality in a 29x29-30-mm housing. The company also introduced its $200 Firefly MV, which offers a 25x40-mm board-level footprint.
Adimec (www.adimec.com) announced its Adimec-4050m, a 4-Mpixel CMOS camera that delivers the image quality of CCD cameras. The new camera features a Camera Link interface and a burst readout mode that supports capture rates to 140 full frames per second.
Sick IVP (www.sickivp.com) highlighted its Ranger C Camera Link model, which in 3-D mode can acquire up o 30,000 profiles per second, each containing up to 1536 3-D coordinates. The camera itself executes the triangulation calculations required to develop the 3-D image information. The company also demonstrated its Ruler E camera for inline scanning applications, its IVC-2D smart camera for automated inspection part-mark-identification applications, and its IVC-3D camera for highlighting surface defects.
Lumenera (www.lumenera.com) demonstrated its USB 2.0 digital cameras and announced that it has integrated its cameras with MVtec (www.mvtec.com) Halcon 7.1 software. (Munich-based MVTec, although not exhibiting at the show, announced May 3 that it will establish a North American support center by year end, most likely in the Boston area.)
Videology (www.videologyinc.com) featured its I-Net Stream Ethernet cameras and video servers, its USB 2.0 cameras and I/O boards, its automotive-grade CMOS cameras, and its aerospace-grade CCD cameras. Siemens (www.siemens.com/simatic-sensors/mv) was on hand to demonstrate products like its Simatic MV220 color area sensor. Hamamatsu (www.hamamatsu.com) was on hand to describe its Microfocus x-ray sources and line-scan cameras. Leutron Vision (www.leutron.com) demonstrated its lineup of PicSight cameras, available with Camera Link, Ethernet, USB 2.0, and analog interfaces. Finally, IMI Tech (www.imi-tech.com) highlighted its lineup of FireWire, Camera Link, USB 2.0, and Ethernet cameras.
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