At VISION 2016, I had the opportunity to sit down and talk with Volker Zipprich-Rasch, Head of Product Management and Marketing at Baumer Competence Center Vision Technologies, where we talked about some of the company’s latest products, how they were developed, and hot topics such as embedded vision and drones.
First, I learned about a new LX VisualApplets 3D camera that features a developed and pre-installed applet for laser triangulation. With the product, customers can adapt algorithms to their needs without having to program the FPGA, said Zipprich-Rasch. Other new products that the company is excited about include new VeriSens vision sensors with speed doubled and Industrial Ethernet included and a new 25 MPixel camera with an ON Semiconductor CMOS image sensor.
Zipprich-Rasch discussed the VeriSens line in a bit more detail, noting that the sensor family has been recently improved, and that the increased performance would suit applications such as industrial inspection. Food and beverage and packaging in particular will be a good fit for these sensors, as the company spoke with key customers in these markets that require such performance, he noted.
In terms of new or emerging markets that Baumer either is currently or will currently be involved in, we first talk about unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones.
"Generally, the role of machine vision companies is still in progress," he said. "But we’ve had discussions about drones, and we’ve identified two major needs and wants in this market. First, customers need high resolution, which we think we have addressed with our LX high resolution camera."
He continued, "Second, they are looking for small products, and we are also addressing this."
In this area, it seems as if the discussion is going to ARM-based technology, which Baumer supports and is currently demonstrating with a number of its products, he added.
"With this, we open the integration into mobile applications without the need for a PC-based system."
Noting this, it was a natural segue into the topic of embedded vision, which Zipprich-Rasch is an important market.
"We are all trying to standardize these products," he said. "The approach for everyone may be different, and each need will be different and need to be customized. This includes addressing things like weight, size, abilities, housing, and so on."
When it comes to his take on the machine vision industry on the whole, Zipprich-Rasch said that the industry is stable and improving.
"The industry is getting better because products are more standardized and cheaper, and software is more sophisticated and powerful, and can solve more applications."
Looking toward the future, he mentioned the forthcoming QX series of 10 GigE cameras, which will be optionally available with VisualApplets. The first model will feature the 12 MPixel CMV12000 CMOS image sensor from CMOSIS, 64-tap sensor readout to achieve speeds of up to 335 fps, and burst mode with 2 GB image memory buffer. Keep an eye out for further details on this product in the future.
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