In your vision system roundup article that appeared in the July issue (p. 47), you neglected to include Keyence Corporation. I wanted to inform your readers that Keyence has been producing a full range of vision systems for the past four years, including systems with both color and gray level detection capabilities. The most recent introduction, the CV-500 Series, features a built-in monitor and a "One-Touch" controller with context sensitive, pull-down menus, all in a single, compact console. To my knowledge, these features are industry firsts.
Independent processors permit the simultaneous use of two compact, high-performance cameras, which incidentally are only 1.2 in. square. A split screen displays both images simultaneously. In our experience, the dual cameras offer significant benefits in applications such as the simultaneous high-speed, production line checking of label positioning and liquid level and the simultaneous measurement of surface detail and flatness of silicon wafers, to mention a few.
Phil Melore
Technical Manager
Keyence Corporation of America
Woodcliff Lake, NJ 07675
www.keyence.com
Your July Product Focus roundup was effective at comparing traditional low-end vision systems that require programming. It is a pity that your readers were not made aware of low-end systems that are 100% self-learning.
Self-learning devices are extremely easy to use: LEARN a good product, and then RUN. As a result, self-learning products such as SIGHTech's Eyebot saves the user many hours of programming and class time.
Please educate your readers on the cost of programming a vision system and maintaining such a system. The total cost of ownership of programming vision systems may surprise your readers.
Francis Tapon
Vice President
SIGHTech Vision Systems Inc.
San Jose, CA 95129
www.SIGHTech.com
EDITOR'S REPLY:
The Product Focus product roundups are not meant to be all-inclusive. That is why in the Company Information box we included the sentence, "For information on additional suppliers of machine-vision systems, see the 2000 Vision Systems Design Buyers Guide." SighTech is listed on p. 78 of the Feb. 2000 Buyers Guide.
In your article "User's Exploit Low-End Machine Vision System Benefits and Versatility," there is a major discrepancy in your facts about the DVT Series 600 Smart-Image Sensor. You mentioned that developers cannot develop their applications without the hardware. This is not true. In Framework 2.0 and 2.1, DVT has imbedded [sic] an emulator in the software. This will allow the developer to take a gray-scale 640 x 480 image and develop a full application. I have done this myself several times. This application from the emulator can then be put into the actual hardware if needed. I feel that this false fact you published portrays a downside to DVT which is not true.
John Wimmer
Project Engineer
Texonics
Denton, TX 76207
EDITOR'S REPLY:
In the FrameWork 1.4 manual it explicitly states that "the FrameWork software package resides in two places. First of all, the FrameWork User Interface runs on a PC and uses the familiar Windows operating environment. In addition, the FrameWork Firmware is the embedded portion of the software that runs on the SmartImage Sensor." In fact, I downloaded the FrameWork software, and it would not run without the sensor in place. Naturally, I assumed that a combination of what the manual informed me and the results of attempting to use the software were true. However, as you point out, I was not aware of the emulator in FrameWork 2.0 and 2.1.
