Machine-Vision & Inspection Highlights--August 2007

Carl Zeiss SMT, a provider of electron- and ion-beam imaging and analysis equipment for nanotechnology applications, reports that it has shipped its first Orion helium ion microscope to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg, MD. The microscope, which has already achieved site acceptance, uses proprietary new technology developed by ALIS, a Peabody, MA, startup company acquired by Carl Zeiss SMT in 2006.

The Orion microscope is being delivered to the Precision Engineering Division of the NIST Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory and will be installed in the Advanced Measurement Laboratory (AML). The AML features stringent environmental controls to allow researchers to conduct exacting measurements and develop standards for a wide range of fields, such as nanotechnology, nanomanufacturing, semiconductor electronics, and biotechnology.

The Orion scanning ion microscope uses a beam of helium ions, rather than the electrons typically used in scanning electron microscopes (SEM), to generate the signals to be measured and imaged. Since helium ions can be focused into a substantially smaller probe size and reveal a much stronger sample interaction compared to electrons, the Orion system can generate higher resolution images with improved material contrast.

Dirk Stenkamp, member of the Carl Zeiss SMT executive board, said, “The fact that this instrument has been shipped to a selected customer before its official market introduction later this year clearly reveals the demand for this breakthrough technology. We are especially pleased that the first Orion microscope is destined for the NIST laboratories where research at the limits of physics is carried out on a daily basis.” www.smt.zeiss.com.

Lloyd Doyle, a supplier of automatic optical test (AOT) and inspection systems for bare printed-circuit boards, has announced the installation of its latest generation bare-board PCB automatic optical test system at Hausermann in Gars am Kamp, Austria. The company reports that Hausermann has taken delivery of a high-resolution LD6000 7.5-µm redline system to address production volume increases. www.lloyd-doyle.com.

FEI has released its Phenom microscope, which the company says bridges the price and performance gap between optical and scanning electron microscope (SEM) technologies. Capable of yielding magnification up to 20,000X, the Phenom addresses a variety of industrial and academic applications, including quality assurance, product development, research, and teaching.

“The Phenom represents a technology jump similar to that of moving from CDs to MP3s,” said Dr. Steven Berger, VP of the Phenom development group for FEI. “This is FEI’s iPod—it’s beautiful to look at and has a simple, intuitive interface. Its ease of use makes it extremely inviting, even to those who have never before operated a microscope.” www.fei.com/phenom.

International Robots & Vision Show, June 12–14, 2007, Rosemont, IL, www.robots-vision-show.info.

At this year’s International Robots & Vision Show, Toshiba Teli America launched its CSB1000, offering uncompressed frame rates of 443 fps at 1280x1024-pixel resolution for high-speed, smear-free image capture. Edmund Optics highlighted two new fast, fixed-focal-length lenses that offer object-space resolution better than two line-pairs per millimeter and are available in focal lengths such as 8.5 and 12 mm.

Point Grey Research announced the introduction of its Grasshopper line of IEEE-1394b (FireWire) cameras. Lumenera announced the release of the Lw570 and Lw575 series of color USB 2.0 cameras, designed for use in a variety of industrial and scientific applications demanding high resolution and low-light performance. Schott formally introduced to the North American market new products in its fiber-optic and LED portfolio. Basler was on hand to highlight its scout and pioneer cameras; after the show, the company introduced new driver software for them.

Allied displayed the new Guppy F-146 1.4-Mpixel color and black-and-white cameras. Imperx highlighted its TEC family of cameras, which are optimized for low-thermal-noise performance. Cognex displayed its next-generation Checker 200 inspection sensors. Vision Components demonstrated its EyeSpector 1.4 for industrial image processing; its VisiCube compact smart vision sensor; its VC eXcite single-board cameras; its VC4472, VC4458, and VC4058 smart cameras; and its VC4002 intelligent line-scan camera.

Sony demonstrated its XCI-V3 smart cameras. JAI highlighted its new TM-2030 Series, which includes GigE Vision and Camera Link cameras featuring a 16x9 aspect ratio and full HDTV resolution of 1920x1088 pixels. Active Silicon highlighted its Power over Camera Link (PoCL) Phoenix digital frame grabbers. Epix touted its PIXCI EC1 notebook Camera Link frame grabber and its Silicon Video 5C10 inspection station. PixeLink showed its USB 2.0 and FireWire cameras and software. Innovative Optics & Illumination highlighted its topSpot line of LED illuminators.