TimeBench analysis software supports high-speed-camera-based systems with process error analysis and data management for system repairs. The software is installed on a local PC to which the camera can be interfaced. A web service enables access to TimeBench using integrated devices such as smart phones, computers, and tablets, allowing industrial systems and test benches to be controlled remotely by quality assurance personnel. Analysis functions include distance, angle, and speed, and additional features include keyframes, overlays, and reporting. Recommended operating systems for the PC are MS Windows Vista and Windows 7.
Optronis
Kehl, Germany
-- Posted by Vision Systems Design
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NEW PRODUCT PRESS RELEASE
Optronis GmbH enables web-based camera control for test bench automation
Kehl, Germany
With the new release of its TimeBench analysis software, Optronis GmbH has simplified the use of high-speed cameras in the industrial environment. The company presented the expansion of TimeBench with a web service for the platform-independent control of high-speed cameras, enhancing the portfolio of optical solutions for system integration and quality assurance.
Following the presentation of the first 4-megapixel CoaXPress for high-end real-time applications in the industrial environment at the end of 2011 and the almost immediate expansion of this high-speed camera with the GenICam standard in early 2012, Kehl-based Optronis GmbH is again setting the pace in the market. TimeBench is the analysis software for the high-speed cameras of Optronis GmbH. The software was developed primarily for camera systems in the imaging segment (CR series) in order to analyse errors in processes, for instance, or obtain data for repairs. The basic features of the software, which has proven its worth over more than two years, have now been expanded with further tools, including a web service that enables measurements on test benches to be automated.
The analysis software with web access
Until now it has only been possible to control high-speed cameras used in quality assurance applications by connecting the camera directly to a PC. With the new release of TimeBench, the analysis software for Optronis high-speed cameras, though, this is now a thing of the past.Depending on the application, the imaging camera is positioned in the same way as a standard video or photo camera and connected to a local PC on which TimeBench is installed. This PC functions as the server. To enable other devices to be connected, Optronis GmbH supplies a web service with TimeBench as standard, similar to special Software Development Kits (SDK), that allow a variety of devices such as SmartPhones, other computers or even iPads to be connected. This gives the user web-based access to TimeBench locally using the integrated devices, allowing recordings in industrial systems or test benches to be controlled from any location. This means, for example, that quality assurance staff can run analyses and control the camera in production, trigger and save data directly from the workstation. Alternatively, maintenance operations by local personnel can be analysed directly by connected staff in the office.
A well-rounded package
Depending on the model, the high-speed cameras of Optronis GmbH can record up to 4 million pixels at an image rate of 500 images per second. These high image data and refresh rates enable the cameras to supply highly detailed pictures. “High-speed cameras often give our customers insight into processes or details that they could never have had with conventional measuring methods”, explains Dr. Bernd Reinke, head of the Industrial Cameras business unit at Optronis GmbH. “Yet the cost of such measurements using these solutions is vanishingly small, and we are constantly working on making it as simple to use the cameras as it is to make an ordinary home video.” The imaging cameras have long been used not only in the industrial environment but also in endoscopy, microscopy and science and research.
Technical outlook
The new release of TimeBench is included in the purchase price of every imaging camera (CR camera) sold by Optronis GmbH. Basic installation requires a standard PC with the recommended operating systems MS Windows Vista and MS Windows 7.
For precise analysis, TimeBench already offers distance, angle and speed analyses as well as simple project management. Release 2.3 of the software, which has been in successful use for more than two years, expands the application with additional features alongside the web service such as keyframes, overlays and a reporting function.
About Optronis
Optronis GmbH is based in Kehl, Germany, and supplies simple solutions for capturing ultra-fast processes. To achieve this, the company develops, manufactures and distributes streak cameras and high-speed video cameras that are especially user-friendly. The 16-strong team brings its sound knowledge and many years’ experience to bear in the field of ultra-fast optical measuring technology. As a result, Optronis can offer its customers not only top quality, easy-to-use standard products but also system solutions that are tailored to the individual needs of the customer.
SOURCE: Optronis
