“Machine-vision hardware is essentially an information delivery system, and there are a lot of ways to deliver this information,” notes David Dechow of Aptúra Machine Vision Solutions. In one of our features this month, Dechow describes a smart-camera system designed to inspect thermal switches, noting that although a PC-host vision system could have provided a viable alternative, his customer was most comfortable with a smart camera-based system.
Indeed, how image information is captured and analyzed is the subject of many articles in this issue. Contributing editor Winn Hardin describes how a work cell based around a Camera Link linescan camera and high-speed recording system is used to capture images of a rotating laser printer drum. Once captured, this image data is analyzed to check for defects and produce a pass/fail decision about the product.
In our cover story, editor Andy Wilson explains how GigE-based cameras and telecentric lenses are used in a turnkey inspection system to image plastic bottles and automatically detect defects. Another article looks at 3-D measurement systems that rely on laser scanning or time-of-flight sensors. Information captured from these scanners can be analyzed and used to guide autonomous vehicles around the factory floor.
To obtain the most accurate information from cameras and sensors, reliable transmission of data is equally important. Because of this, the cabling from sensors to PCs, PLCs, or network devices must exhibit the best performance characteristics. In our Product Focus feature this month, Wilson describes how cabling is tested and how system integrators and end users can use the performance data to ensure that the systems they develop meet their requirements.
Selective preferences
Just as the information used by machine-vision systems may be obtained by numerous image sensors and detectors, so too the information available at Vision Systems Design is available in a number of forms. Our web site includes many forms of information that do not fit between the pages of this magazine.
Most notably, we have developed an extensive video library showing vision systems and applications. Many of these are embedded in related articles also published in print. Our webcasts, white papers, and blogs are continually updated on the site, and delivered to subscribers who request it in the recently redesigned, thrice-monthly e-newsletters. Image and information delivery platforms certainly vary, and we are pleased we can provide you with a number of choices.
W. Conard Holton, Editor in Chief
[email protected]
