In this diverse and growing global industry, finding relevant products, vendors, and systems integrators is a critical task. This issue is dedicated to helping you find this information and more in our annualVision Systems Design Buyers Guide. This reference tool is complemented by a searchable version online at www.vision-systems.com.
The 2004 Buyers Guide contains five sections: Products, Directory of Manufacturers, System-Integration Services, Directory of System Integrators, and Directory of Manufacturers Reps. This year there are 800 vendors worldwide listed in our directory, along with a description of each company and complete contact information. The products are grouped alphabetically in general categories, with the detailed breakdown of each product category clearly marked.
By adding sections on system-integration services and a directory of system integrators, we are emphasizing the importance of this segment to the market. It should prove especially useful to OEM vendors and end users who want to commission a systems integrator to develop a networked, computer-based, automated machine-vision system.
Rather than our usual content, we are offering a series on the fundamentals of vision-system design. Organized by Greg Hollows at Edmund Industrial Optics (Barrington, NJ, USA), the Technology Basics series provides tutorials on choosing optics, cameras, illumination, and hardware and software. Each tutorial focuses on function, performance, and selection criteria related to these components in a vision system, and each is illustrated by a related case study written by editor Andy Wilson.
Making the case
In fact, the monthly editorial focus ofVision Systems Design is case studies—technical descriptions of real-world systems—how they are designed and what components are used. The case studies in this issue range from a robotic system that inspects molded automobile parts, to a microscopy vision system that captures contractions in the inner ear, to a smart-camera system that reads data-matrix codes.
If you have a vision-system case study that you are prepared to discuss by writing an article or working with us to develop one, please let me know. And if you have new products, please send them to us at [email protected]. The Buyers Guide is published only once a year, but the coverage of vision systems goes on all year long.
W. Conard Holton
Editor in Chief
[email protected]
