As a systems-integration magazine,Vision Systems Design has always set its sights on showing how components and subsystems are integrated to create vision-based solutions, whether in the electronics, automotive, food, pharmaceutical, or other industries. We are continuing to enhance our global coverage of these topics in 2005, with additional insights into component and subsystem integration and more reports on related developments in automation and emerging technology trends.
This month, for example, we introduce a regular feature on component integration, in this case showing how volume production of high-dynamic-range smart cameras can be achieved by precalibrating the sensors. In the coming months, we will look at integration challenges with components such as DSPs, FPGAs, IR detectors, shutters, PCI Express boards, and others. In the same vein, this issue contains a special supplement, the “Worldwide Camera Lens Directory,”that lists many of the major industrial lens manufacturers in the world, along with their lenses. The directory also contains tutorial articles on selecting the appropriate lens for an application.
You will find other enhancements to the magazine this year, including Snapshots, a series of briefs on recent developments in machine vision that follows this page. We are not publishing news of the latest academic research, rather we are highlighting developments that are beginning to impact the commercial world or will be very soon.
By way of clarifying the products that we cover, we have renamed the New Products section at the back of the magazine to Vision+Automation Products, since the two are so intertwined. And you may have noticed a new tagline beneath our logo on the cover of the magazine: Vision and Automation Solutions for Engineers and Integrators Worldwide, which sums up our mission quite nicely!
Join the evolution
These enhancements are evolutionary, not revolutionary, and result from the growing and changing market for machine vision and the corresponding growth of the magazine. Beyond these changes, we have our usual lineup of interviews and features, including a talk with Kevin Harding at GE’s Global Research Center on machine vision from a major end user’s point of view. The Technology Trends section looks at vision in hazardous environments, quality control and industrial testing applications, and imaging from unmanned aerial vehicles-a fast growing area of defense spending. We also have a feature on packaging beverage mixes using vision and programmable automation controllers and one on how vendors use PMC modules to add imaging to VME boards. I trust you will find that this variety adds some spice-and solutions-to your new year.
W. Conard Holton
Editor in Chief
[email protected]
