The Vision Show 2010: Lights, vision, and software

The Vision Show, May 25-27, Boston, MA; Automated Imaging Association, www.machinevisiononline.org.

-- Test & Measurement World, 7/1/2010 12:00:00 AM

If having many players is a sign of a healthy market, then the machine-vision industry is in good shape. In its five aisles of exhibits, the Vision Show in Boston had a good showing of industrial cameras. It also had frame grabbers, software, and LED lighting.
Basler exhibited its GenICam camera, which has a GigE interface with PoE (Power Over Ethernet). Dalsa introduced four models of its Falcon line. The High Gain series added three models: 1.4 Mpixels, 1 Mpixel, and VGA resolution. The company also introduced a 1.4-Mpixel extended-dynamic-range camera and added a graphics processing unit and multicore processing to its Sapera Essential vision software.
Microscan expanded is Nerlite line of machine-vision lighting to over 300 configurations such as ring lights and area arrays. The company added infrared, ultraviolet, blue, and white wavelengths. Microscan also upgraded its Visionscape image-processing software to include color matching and color segmentation.
National Instruments added machine vision to its CompactRIO and Single-Board RIO lines of modular automation controllers. The company also exhibited its Real-Time Embedded Vision System that supports GigE, USB, and IEEE 1394 interfaces and has 29 digital I/O lines for control. The system is also an EtherCat master. PXI Express FPGA cards with a Camera Link adapter were also on display.
Newnex demonstrated a product that extends the length of cabling between cameras and frame grabbers. The S800 converts IEEE 1394b to CAT5/5e/6 Ethernet cable, extending the reach to 100 m.