Cognex and Sony team develops machine-vision camera
Whereas nearly all industrial cameras are designed as separate subsystems, Cognex Corp. (Natick, MA; www.cognex.com) has partnered with Sony Corp. (Tokyo, Japan) to design the Cognex CVC-1000 progressive-scan video camera specifically for industrial machine-vision applications. In the joint effort, Sony developed the camera to Cognex`s machine-vision requirements and will manufacture the CVC-1000 exclusively for Cognex. The requirements included high-speed image acquisition, enhanced image quality, compact size, and flexible control options. However, the compact 38 ¥ 29 ¥ 77-mm, 130-g camera is restricted to interfacing with Cognex products.
Says Justin Testa, Cognex vice president of marketing, "As machine-vision processing power increases and vision algorithms continue to advance, image acquisition can become the weak link in the overall solution. The CVC-1000 enables customers to take full advantage of the increased performance of our latest vision systems while offering a more complete vision solution from a single source."
Comments Shunzo Ura, general manager of image sensing products sales for the Broadcasting and Professional Systems Co. of Sony Corp., "The camera we have developed offers progressive-scan video technology that can capture more image data in less time."
In fact, the analog, 1/3-in., C-mount CCD camera can acquire full-frame, 640 ¥ 480 square-pixel images at 60 frames per second over a single channel without pixel jitter, which benefits high-speed applications such as can- and bottle-cap inspections. In addition, it digitizes image data synchronously, without the filtering and sampling operations needed by most video cameras, and runs under Cognex`s vision software, including the PatMax precision alignment tool.
Moreover, for multicamera applications, images can be stored on camera for up to 100 ms and then sequentially transmitted to the machine-vision system for analysis, saving the need for a frame store. Partial-frame images can also be captured at 200 acquires/s within a larger field of view, thereby decreasing acquisition time and increasing throughput. Specifically, the camera was designed to integrate directly with the CognexCheckpoint 900 and MVS-8000 series of machine-vision systems and connects to an external image-acquisition module mounted on its vision board for direct image digitalization. Image size and shutter speed can be remotely controlled by system software.
Adds Dave King, Cognex consulting engineer, says, "Because both the vision system and the camera come from a single source, there`s guaranteed compatibility. The camera also gives a rich feature set in a small form factor, allowing use in different types of applications with varying performance and space requirements. Everything is integrated, so there`s no custom cabling."
