VISION 2010 expands integration area, focus on end-users

VISION 2010 is again placing great emphasis on the system integrators and, for the second time, providing a platform called the Integration Area, where system solution providers can showcase their expertise. After receiving excellent feedback regarding the Integration Area last year, the show organizer, Messe Stuttgart, is expanding the area this year. "We want to focus more on the end users of machine vision systems and provide this target group with a competent forum for problem solving,” explains Florian Niethammer, project manager of VISION. The Integration Area at VISION 2010, taking place from 9 to 11 November 2010 in the new Stuttgart Trade Fair Centre directly beside Stuttgart Airport, will have its own area clearly marked out from the others. "The level of interest and enthusiasm is very positive at the moment,” says Niethammer. "The expansion of the Vision Integration Area is an important move as it will make it easier for the end customer to come into contact with the integrators,” added Ronald Krzywinski, Managing Director of Bi-Ber GmbH & Co. Engineering KG. As a complex cross-sectional technology, machine vision combines the areas of optics, illumination, camera technology, computer science, interfaces and software. And system integrators provide end users with solutions that take the entire spectrum into consideration, says Krzywinski. This ranges from the feasibility study to the formulation of the individually best solution, to customer-specific development, to construction and start-up of the system. Rounding it all off is the training and after-sales service covering the entire product lifecycle. "In addition to machine vision expertise, our employees have sound knowledge of automation technology,” says Roy Hengstmann, Managing Director of Hengstmann Solutions GmbH. The experts from Hengstmann analyse, together with the user, the profile of requirements, show him how he could benefit further from using machine vision, without additional costs, and draw up a provisional solution which is ideally suited to his system and production processes. "This then leads to the end solution. In this way, there is no risk taken by the user that the system will be inoperable,” says Hengstmann. EHD imaging has plenty of experience in the area of camera technology and optics. "We see ourselves as a supplier and system integrator for special applications in the UV and near-infrared area, as well as of high-resolution camera systems up to 50 megapixels. For difficult fitting conditions, we offer a modular, optical zoom system where objects can be enlarged up to 7, 12 or 16 times in size,” says Reusch. At VISION 2010, the company will be presenting the newly developed InGaAs camera for the wavelength area of 900 – 1700 nm, as well as cooled, high-resolution camera systems. How the end user can benefit from the expertise of an integrator is shown by the practical bottle inspection example. Today, the inspection of lateral surfaces in many industrial applications frequently demands even more complex machine vision solutions. The company Bi-Ber has provided relief here in the form of the PRISMAGIC system, mirror optics with integrated illumination. "With this standard solution based on a modular design principle, a complex machine vision task, integrated into a production line, is easily solved. Flexible mirror heads can be combined with individually designed hardware and software components to form a complete system,” explains Krzywinski. Together with its partners, Bi-Ber has integrated a new empty bottle inspection system into the existing system of a south German brewery. It is suitable for dark or light bottles, with or without thread, and recognises nicks, cracks and significant abrasion. The evaluation time for each test cycle is, according to Bi-Ber experts, approximately 60 ms. The data collected from the machine vision computer is recorded in a text or image file and forwarded to primary control so that faulty bottles can be screened and, following a final manual inspection, removed or used again. According to Bi-Ber experts, the system is capable of checking 42,000 bottles every hour. End users will find competent contact partners in the system integrator area at VISION. "Already in 2009, a lot of companies made use of this area. This year, we are expecting an even greater number of end users to be among the visitors – best of all with concrete application problems or their own ideas,” says Hengstmann. Machine vision is also the main focus of the Application Park at VISION 2010. Thematically, it has seen some change this year. As a major international influence for machine vision technologies, VISION 2010 will be presenting, in trade fair halls 4 and 6 on a total of 20,000 square meters of space, the latest components, complete systems and innovative solutions. Among these are smart, matrix, and linescan cameras, high-speed and infrared cameras, vision sensors, frame grabbers, illumination, lasers, optics/lenses, optical filters, accessories, software libraries, application-specific machine vision systems, configurable machine vision systems, services and solutions. An accompanying program of events will be promoting the exchange of knowledge and presenting the latest trends and updates on efforts in standardisation. Press Release Posted by Vision Systems Design