Communication software developed by Centre de Robotique et de Vision Industrielles (CRVI), a technology transfer center specializing in industrial robotics and vision applications, will enable Matrox Imaging-based vision systems to interface with controllers from leading robotics vendors.
The collaboration, which Matrox Imaging announced on January 30, enables vision systems running Matrox Imaging software to directly interface—via Ethernet link—with controllers from robot vendors including ABB and FANUC. The socket-based communication protocol will first be available in the upcoming release 4.0 of Matrox Design Assistant, which is a flowchart-based development environment which enables manufacturing engineers and technicians to configure and deploy machine vision applications on an integrated platform without the need for conventional programming.
This collaboration, according to Moulay Akhloufi, director research & development, CRVI, came about as a result of the rising need and use of vision-guided robotics.
"Vision-guided robots are increasingly used in manufacturing industries around the world including food and beverage, automotive and pharmaceutical to improve quality, increase productivity, ensure safety and provide flexibility," he said in a press release. "This new communication protocol will help Matrox customers realize these benefits reliably and cost-effectively without the need to implement and integrate their own protocols."
As of now, the communication protocol has been developed for the ABB IRC5 and FANUC R-30 iA Mate controllers, and will be the basis of future support for other vendor’s robots, according to Laval Tremblay, vice president of engineering, Matrox Imaging.
View more information on the Matrox Imaging library.
View more information on CRVI.
Also check out:
Artificial Intelligence: Researchers add artificial intelligence to robotic systems
Industrial Automation: Autonomous robots fuse multi-sensor data
Google and the robot revolution
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About the Author
James Carroll
Former VSD Editor James Carroll joined the team 2013. Carroll covered machine vision and imaging from numerous angles, including application stories, industry news, market updates, and new products. In addition to writing and editing articles, Carroll managed the Innovators Awards program and webcasts.