Camera makerXimea (Golden, CO, USA) has introduced a new series of USB 3.0 cameras based on Cypress Semiconductor's (San Jose, CA, USA) EZ-USB FX3 USB 3.0 controller.
With itsUSB 3.0 interface, Ximea's MQ series of cameras are capable of transfer rates of 5 Gbits/s, or the equivalent of 400 Mpixels/s.
With resolutions from VGA to 4 Mpixels and frame rates up to 600 frames/s, the MQ series also offers opto-isolated trigger input and lighting synchronization output, as well as on-board non-volatile memory for user settings and custom data. A high dynamic range (HDR) model has a dynamic range of up to 100 dB.
The cameras measure just 26.4 x 26.4 x 19.1 mm, weigh 26 g, and consume between 1 and 1.8 W of power. According to Ximea, that makes them the smallest industrial USB 3.0 cameras on the market.
Each camera ships with APIs for the most common image-processing software, including programs from Cognex, Matrox, National Instruments, MVTec, and others. Prices for the MQ series start at EUR189 for the 1.3-Mpixel version.
USB 3.0 offers the same ease of use that users have come to expect from USB 2.0 devices, but at a much higher data rate of 5 Gbits/s compared to the USB 2.0’s 480 Mbits/s.
According to Max Larin, CEO and head of product development and engineering at Ximea, thanks to the use of the Cypress device, the company's designers were able to develop the MQ family in only 100 days.
-- By Dave Wilson, Senior Editor,Vision Systems Design
