New Products

Cameras shrink size

Sony XC-HR70 miniature progressive-scan camera provides a 1/3-in. sensor with 1024 × 768-pixel resolution at 30 frames/s. Packaged in a 29 × 29 × 30-mm housing, it supports partial-scan readout at up to 80 frames/s and asynchronous triggering modes. Sony XC-HR50 camera features a 1/3-in. sensor with 640 × 480-pixel resolution running at 60 frames/s in the same small housing. Sony XC-HR300 camera comes with a 1/2-in. 768 × 576-pixel sensor running at 100 frames/s.
Firstsight Vision Ltd., Tongham, Surrey, UK;
www.firstsightvision.co.uk enter 101 at www.onlinecenter.to/vsd

Vision PC is embedded

LVmPC is a compact, embedded vision system that works with digital, analog, color, monochrome, USB 2.0, FireWire, and Camera Link cameras via interfaces on the internal PC motherboard, through an optional frame grabber, or by PCMCIA adaptor cards. As many as four user-selected PMC add-in cards can be used simultaneously in a 3.5 × 3.6 × 7.2-in. enclosure. The system runs Windows 9x/NT/2000/XP and embedded versions, Linux, or VxWorks. It comes with a Pentium III processor, 512k cache, an Intel I815E chipset, and FireWire, Ethernet, VGA (DVI-I), CompactFlash I/II, and USB 2.0 ports.
Leutrek Vision Inc., Burlington, MA, USA;
www.leutrek.com. enter 100 at www.onlinecenter.to/vsd

Frame grabbers aid Camera Link

R3-PMC-CL 32-bit/33-MHz PCI mezzanine card (PMC) features a Base configuration Camera Link interface, the company's FlowThru architecture, and multiple user-programmable I/O options via two front-panel connectors. Supporting most Camera Link cameras, the card offers an image-acquisition platform for embedded imaging applications. It is compatible with DSP products from BittWare and Mercury Computer Systems and supports VME, Compact PCI, and stand-alone single-board computers. R64-CL Camera Link interface board offers a 64-bit/66-MHz PCI bus interface and supports dual-Base, Medium, or Full configuration Camera Link cameras, FlowThru architecture, and real-time acquisition and data transfer with no latency or CPU usage. Key features include the support of complex camera modes; on-the-fly scan-reversal; external I/O signal requirements, such as trigger, encoder and strobe; and a Software Development Kit.
BitFlow Inc., Woburn, MA, USA;
www.bitflow.com. enter 103 at www.onlinecenter.to/vsd

CMOS camera works remotely

cmosSamBa HR-130 miniature camera system comes with a remote CMOS sensor head that measures 25 × 25 × 25 mm (1 cubic in.) and accepts a C-mount lens. It is cable-connected with a camera-control unit and suits applications where space is limited. Resolution is 1280 × 1024 pixels using 6.7-sq µm pixels; frame rate is 30 frames/s. Key features include synchronous snapshot shutter, three-step integrated data processing, programmable digital binning or windowing, a 10-bit digital output, and Ethernet networking.
Sensovation AG, Ludwigshafen, Germany;
www.sensovation.com. enter 102 at www.onlinecenter.to/vsd

Camera does Linux MiniHiPerCam monochrome or color camera runs on Elinos, an embedded version of the Linux operating system. Both CMOS image sensors provide 640 x 480-pixel resolution and a frame rate of 15 or 30 Hz. An on-board PowerPC 823 processor operates at 50 MHz. Memory includes 16 Mbytes for imaging and run-time data; 8 Mbytes serves the Elinos operating system with an embedded hypertext-transfer protocol server and application software. Two RS-232 ports and a 10-Mbit/s Ethernet port are available to accommodate commands, data, and images. A Sedo security program is offered as source code to help application programming.
American Eltec Inc., Las Vegas, NV, USA;
www.americaneltec.com. enter 104 At www.onlinecenter.to/vsd

Lenses focus on megapixels Megapixel lenses work with cameras with 1.3 million or more pixels. The C-mount lenses ..come in three focal lengths for 2/3-in. CCD image sensors. The 16-mm-focal-length f/1.4 lens is 38 mm long and weighs 80 g; the 25-mm-focal-length f/1.4 lens is 52.2 mm long and weighs 103 g; and the 50-mm-focal-length f/2.8 lens is 77.5 mm long and weighs 117 g. The 25- and 50-mm lenses provide 0% distortion. The minimum object distance of 0.15 m on the 16- and 25-mm lenses and 0.20 m on the 50-mm lens enable close inspection of small objects.
Tamron USA Inc., Commack, NY, USA;
www.tamron.com. enter 105 At www.onlinecenter.to/vsd

Positioner runs in three axes Model XYZ-500 MIMT micropositioner moves in the x, y, and z axes in 0.5-in. increments by remote control from either a computer or a joystick. Three precision stepping motors are attached to gearheads that drive high-thread-count screws. Resolution ranges from 0.48 µm per step down to 0.0105 µm per step, depending upon the gearbox ratio. Motorized controller comes with a joystick, power supply, and a card to control the three axes. Optionally, up to five cards can be included for controlling up to five separate three-axis positioners. The gibs, slides, and bearings are constructed of heat-treated, ground 440-C stainless steel for precise linear motion on all three axes. The positioner has a base footprint of 1.5 x 2 in. and an overall size of 2 x 5.3 x 4.7 in.
Quater Research & Development Inc., Clackamas, OR, USA;
www.quater-research.com. enter 106 At www.onlinecenter.to/vsd

PCI system on a module Blazor architecture integrates a 64-bit PCI-based ..embedded host subsystem, including CPU, chipset, DRAM expansion, 64-bit PCI buses, hardware monitoring, and a RAS BIOS. It supports Intel Pentium III or later technology with up to 1Mbyte of L2 cache in single- or dual-processor configurations; dual 64-bit/66-MHz PCI 2.2 or 133-MHz PCI-X buses with up to a 4-Mbyte/s aggregate throughput; and I/O bandwidth of 2.1 or 4.2 Gbytes/s in single data rate mode or dual data rate mode, respectively. A single module measures 8.5 × 4.8 × 1.3 in. The first two modules incorporate a single CPU starting at 933 MHz, two 64-bit/66-MHz PCI buses, one 32-bit/33-MHz PCI bus, and memory expansion slots for up to 4 Gbytes of PC133 SDRAM. Graphics-based module includes 2-D/3-D PCI graphics support for LCD and CRT displays. Software support includes Windows, Linux, and RTOSs.
PFU Systems Inc., Santa Clara, CA, USA;
www.PFUsystems.com. enter 107 at www.onlinecenter.to/vsd

Board computer comes half-length Model ePX-Zx10 half-length, single-board computer complies with the PCI 2.2, PCI 2.2 PCI-X Addendum, and PCI 1.2 embedded PCI-X open standards. It provides either a Pentium III or Celeron processor, Intel 815E chipset, and up to 256 Mbytes of PC100 SDRAM. The basic board includes an integrated 2-D/3-D AGP4X video controller, a 4-Mbyte display cache, PanelLink transmitter with a digital flat-panel or CRT output, 10Base-T/100 Base-TX Ethernet, and Ultra ATA100 EIDE controllers, two USB ports, four serial ports, one parallel port, and a floppy-disk interface. It operates in elevated temperatures and meets international safety and EMC standards.
Diversified Technology Inc., Ridgeland, MS, USA;
www.dstims.com. enter 108 At www.onlinecenter.to/vsd

Vision processor delivers bandwidth Odyssey XA vision processor board contains a Motorola G4 PowerPC 600-MHz microprocessor, a 256-Mbyte DDR SDRAM memory, up to 1 Gbyte/s of external I/O bandwidth, more than a 5-Gbyte/s memory bandwidth, and an Oasis ASIC that deliver 120 BOPS. The ASIC integrates a CPU bridge, main memory controller, pixel accelerator, links controller, and 128-bit-wide, 166-MHz DDR DRAM interface that can transfer image data at rates to 5.3 Gbytes/s. Consisting of an array of 64 parallel-processing elements, the 167-MHz pixel accelerator processes up to 2 billion pixels/s. The links controller or router manages all data movements inside and outside the processing node, and handles several concurrent video and message streams. An integrated analog frame grabber acquires data to 800 Mbytes/s over four independent or synchronized 10-bit/100-MHz channels. Available software includes Matrox Imaging Library, Odyssey Native Library, and Windows 2000/XP.
Matrox Imaging, Dorval, QC, Canada;
www.matrox.com/imaging. enter 109 at www.onlinecenter.to/vsd

Converters target imaging AD9821 12-bit, 40-MSPS, single-chip, analog front end and AD9845B, 12-bit, 30-MSPS, analog-to-digital converter target CMOS and CCD imaging applications, respectively. AD9821 interfaces to CMOS sensors via a differential sensor input. It includes a low-noise optical black clamp and a 0 to 36-dB, 10-bit programmable gain amplifier. A dissipation of 150 mW allows a long battery life in portable applications. AD9845B incorporates a 6-bit pixel gain amplifier, a 2 to 36-dB, 10-bit variable gain amplifier, an input clamp, a black-level clamp, and input modes for processing analog video signals. Internal registers are programmed through a three-wire serial digital interface. It dissipates 153 mW from a 3-V power supply.
Analog Devices Inc., Wilmington, MA, USA;
www.analog.com. enter 110 at www.onlinecenter.to/vsd

Camera offers high resolution Mega-Plus ES 4.0/E digital camera incorporates a Kodak KAI-4000 2048 × 2048-pixel CCD-based sensor to capture 15 full frames/s in continuous mode with dual channels and a spatial resolution of more than 4 million pixels. Pixel size is 7.4 sq µm with a fill factor of 60%. Pixel clock rate is 40 MHz per channel at 15 frames/s. Other features include a dynamic range of 62 dB at full resolution, a 12-bit progressive-scan readout, electronic shuttering from 98 µs to 64.9 ms, and a digital LVDS output or an optional Camera Link interface. Gain settings cover four analog settings and three digital modes. C or F-mount lens is available.
Redlake MASD Inc., San Diego, CA, USA;
www.redlake.com. enter 111 At www.onlinecenter.to/vsd

CMOS camera sees infrared PC-640CL (monochrome) or PCC-640CL (color) camera comes with a 30/60-frame/s, 640 × 480-pixel, 1/3-in., progressive-scan CMOS imager with a C-mount lens. Its full-frame global shutter works down to 1/10,000 s. Sensitivity to near-infrared is 50% of peak quantum efficiency at 900 nm. Eight-bit digital output is available via a Camera Link interface. Camera control and mode selection operate over RS-232 serial communication using a Camera Link cable. Signal-to-noise ratio is 45 dB nominal, and minimum illumination is 2.5 lux. The camera measures 44 × 44 × 36.8 mm, weighs 83 g, and uses 12 Vdc at 100 mA.
Pulnix America Inc., Sunnyvale, CA, USA;
www.pulnix.com. enter 112 at www.onlinecenter.to/vsd

CMOS camera packs features FastCamera40 uses a progressive-scan, 2352 × 1728-pixel, monochrome or color CMOS digital image sensor with 7-µm sq. active-pixel photodiodes that can deliver 240 frames/s at full resolution and a 40% fill factor. Frame rates to 400,000 frames/s are possible at 1 × 2k pixels. The camera provides a 59-dB dynamic range, 16 parallel output ports, triggered electronic shutter, on-chip 10-bit analog-to-digital converters, FPGAs with 1000K to 8000K gates, memory-based configurable interface formats, and on-board processing. Outputs provide up to five 85-MHz channel links, 140 data bits at 85 MHz, and RS-644 serial communications.
FastVision Inc., Nashua, NH, USA;
www.fast-vision.com enter 113 at www.onlinecenter.to/vsd

Lightlines offer multiple colors LED lightlines focus on surface-inspection applications. They come in seven standard sizes ranging from 4 to 40 in. and in red and white. Custom color options include blue, yellow, and green, in addition to ultraviolet and infrared wavelengths. Cylindrical and aperatured lenses, polarizers, and custom configurations are available. The products monitor the lighthead's temperature and intensity through a continuous feedback loop, use a matrix plate as a heat sink, and add circuitry to isolate failures to individual light-emitting diodes.
Schott-Fostec, Auburn, NY, USA;
www.us.schott.com/fiberoptics. enter 114 at www.onlinecenter.to/vsd

Frame grabber blazes PCI-X XSYS frame grabber supports the Base/Medium/Full Camera Link or LVDS I/O up to 133 MHz. It accepts image data from one to four area- or linescan cameras providing monochrome or RGB images and can continuously grab 1280 × 1024-pixel images at 500 frames/s from the Basler 504k camera. Master mode transfers video data at rates up to 1 Gbyte/s and can transfer image data directly to other PCI peripherals such as hard disk storage, without using host memory. Board uses Altera programmable logic devices for embedded high-speed data and signal processing and on-board buffering with 1Mbyte of Flash memory, 4 Mbytes of SRAM, and 256 Mbytes of optional SDRAM. Software support includes Windows 2000/NT/95/98. Board offers a quad-channel fiberoptic interface option for long-distance video transmissions of 4 × 1.25 Gbits/s to overcome radiation, noise, and grounding problems.
PLDApplications, Aix-en-Provence, France;
www.plda.com. enter 115 at www.onlinecenter.to/vsd

Camera offers TDI technology CL-T7 color CCD linescan camera features the responsivity of tri-time delay and integration (TDI) sensor technology that ..combines multiple exposures and provides as many as 24 red, 24 green, and 48 blue stages of integration. It operates at 25 MHz per color with 2048 pixels for each color exceeding line rates of 10 kHz. The camera furnishes eight LVDS (RS-644) bits for each red, green, and blue color and suits 100% print inspection. A 2K resolution meets narrow web print inspection needs, and two side-by-side cameras can accommodate large web applications.
Dalsa, Waterloo, ON, Canada;
vfm.dalsa.com/CL-T7. enter 116 at www.onlinecenter.to/vsd

Camera autofocuses 20Z704USB autofocus zoom camera and module is USB 1.1 and USB 2.0 compliant and FCC, Class B approved and provides both analog and digital capabilities. No frame grabber is needed. In S-Video or USB format, the camera accommodates still image capture, ID badging, or biometrics. For machine-vision applications, it uses a shutter mode and can focus at short ranges. The Sony CCD delivers more than 480 TV lines of resolution and handles composite, S-VHS, and USB video. Optical zoom mode functions to 16X and can digitally zoom to 128X. A range of lens diopters can increase magnification up to 4X optically. Key features include mirror mode, gain and gamma controls, negative image option, flickerless mode, variable shutter speeds, and white-balance functions. SDKs are available for OEM and custom software developments.
Videology Imaging Solutions Inc., Greenville, RI, USA;
www.videologyinc.com. enter 117 at www.onlinecenter.to/vsd

Software simplifies inspection Vision Builder for Automated Inspection software enables the integration of image acquisition, machine-vision inspection, ..decision-making, and I/O control into in-line parts inspection and quality-control monitoring applications. With no prior programming experience needed, designers can use intuitive inspection tools for direct interaction with images. Built-in digital I/O functions permit control of serial lines, static digital I/O modules, and interfaces to such external devices as strobes, cameras, and PLCs. Predefined rules can be used to store images and inspection data. A trainable OCR engine permits reading of serial numbers or identification codes on a variety of objects. After a vision application is developed, LabView can be used to build a custom user interface and integrate motion control and data acquisition with machine vision.
National Instruments, Austin, TX, USA;
www.ni.com. enter 118 at www.onlinecenter.to/vsd

Frame grabber does Camera Link DT3145 PCI frame-grabber board acquires images based on the Camera Link serial interface for area-scan and line-scan; single-port 8-, 10-, 12-, 14-, and 16-bit monochrome; dual-port 8-, 10-, and 12-bit monochrome; and 24-bit RGB camera configurations. Its 32-bit, 33-MHz PCI bus supports imaging data from 80 to 132 Mbytes/s without CPU intervention. Eight digital control lines (four out, four in) are used to monitor and control peripherals. Board can be used with DT Vision Foundry and Global Lab Image/2 software.
Data Translation Ltd., Basingstoke, Hampshire, UK;
www.datx.co.uk. enter 119 at www.onlinecenter.to/vsd

Camera offers high dynamic range DALSTAR 1M75-SA CMOS area camera provides a 1-Mpixel CMOS image sensor with a global nonrolling shutter capable of 75 frames/s at full resolution or 100,000 frames/s with windowing. It features LinLog sensor technology that increases the intrascene dynamic range up to 120 dB. Global shuttering reduces image blur by simultaneously exposing the entire pixel array rather than sequencing the exposure line-by-line. Programmable and diagnostic features are accessible through a Camera Link MDR26 connector. Selectable 8- or 10-bit digitization is available.
Dalsa, Waterloo, ON, Canada;
vfm.dalsa.com/1M75. enter 120 at www.onlinecenter.to/vsd