Vision East, sponsored by the Automated Imaging Association held in Boston May 4 through 6 was the scene of many product announcements and industry buzz. The mood of industry suppliers was upbeat as growth in the U.S. economy appeared to be filtering into the manufacturing sector. Increasingly ruggedized vision sensors, more powerful software ported to lower end systems and enhanced Data Matrix code reading were the major show trends.
DVT, the Duluth, Ga. vision sensor manufacturer, unleashed many new products. Reflecting a trend at the show, the company revealed a code reading scanner, dubbed Intelligent Scanner XS, uses digital signal processing (DSP) technology to increase speed from three to eight times faster than its predecessors. It performed "over 100 data matrix reads per second" according to company spokesmen.
Displayed taking pictures while submerged in a salt water aquarium accompanied by a New England lobster the Legend XE is suitable for wash-down environments with an IP68 rating.
Another new system from DVT is the Legend LS line scan vision system. "We've hit the 'sweet 16' level now," commented Bob Steinke, chief executive officer and chairman of DVT. "What this means for our customers is that we now offer 16 products."
Steve Gieseking, director of Research & Development, said the Line Scan Legend LS will have a major impact on two application types: unwrapping cylindrical objects for label inspection and scanning an object to obtain a high resolution image.
The company is also marketing three new ancillary products-an Ethernet input/output assembly, an industrial power supply and an intelligent breakout board. Phoenix Contact Inc., a manufacturer of electronic components and automation connection systems, is brand labeling the extended I/O assembly and power supplies for DVT.
Another leading contender in the hotly contested vision sensor market, Natick, Mass.-based Cognex, showed off its new line of ruggedized vision sensors, as well as what the company labels a "breakthrough" in Data Matrix code reading. The company took its higher-end PatMax vision software technology and applied it to code reading within its vision sensor platform to enhance reading Direct Part Mark Identification. Often Data Matrix codes imprinted directly on the part can become distorted, blurred or otherwise rendered difficult to read. This solution tackles that problem.
Not to be outdone, Robotic Vision Systems Inc. (RVSI) introduced its smart camera Data Matrix reader with a built-in verifier. A verifier checks the mark just after the marking process to assure its readability and also indicate how close to the edge of readability that it is. This continuous monitoring allows technicians to fix the printer before a series of unreadable marks are produced.
The vision sensor end of the machine vision market is perhaps the most hotly contested of all the industrial automation areas. This makes it the most interesting. Not only are the three companies mentioned above slugging it out, but you can add in National Instruments, Omron Electronics, Banner Engineering, PPT Vision, ipd (division of Coreco Imaging). These products are rapidly gaining power and utility. This is one area where companies can automate with great benefit at a reasonable (even cheap) price.
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