Aug 01, 2001
New family of open architecture machine vision boards feature on-board acceleration for demanding application
Bedford, MA., January 1, 2001--Coreco Imaging, leading developer of high performance machine vision tools for OEMs, today announced a new family of open architecture machine vision boards. PC-LineScan is the first in a series of high performance frame grabbers that provide on-board acceleration for high speed vision tasks. Designed for challenging line scan applications, PC-LineScan includes performance enhancements that collect and analyze large amounts of data in real-time and compensate for variations in lighting.
"For years, line scan vision applications have been dominated by expensive, proprietary systems," said Steve Geraghty, VP of Operations. "High performance and low cost are no longer mutually exclusive in machine vision. PC-LineScan is the only frame grabber to integrate the real-time processing functions needed for high speed line inspection applications directly on-board. This offloads the host CPU and provides users with increased speed and bandwidth to handle other tasks, such as motion control. All this is now available at 1/2 to 2/3 the price of competitive systems."
On-board Acceleration
To speed machine vision tasks, PC-LineScan is based on an expandable architecture that supports real-time processing functions. This new design has been fine-tuned to line scan applications. Features that were traditionally handled more slowly in software are now available on-board, including Run-Length Encoding and Flat-Field Correction. PC-LineScan also supports a plug-in expansion module that can be custom designed to meet specific application needs.
Run-Length Encoding significantly reduces the large volume of image data acquired in line scan applications. With its flexible FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) implementation, PC-LineScan extracts only useful information from the image. This "streak" feature extraction can be performed at the same time as the original, while the unprocessed image is stored in the on-board image buffer. Useful for inspection applications when a flaw is detected, this allows the host processor to perform a closer inspection of the actual image data.
PC-LineScan also supports on-board Flat Field Correction, which provides real-time compensation for variations in lighting that can affect the acquired image. Without this correction, different pixel values are likely to be received from the line scan camera when viewing a uniform surface. This can result in the presence of vertical bands in the image being acquired. PC-LineScan corrects these non-uniformities, while supporting multi-tap cameras and multi-camera applications.
High Performance Design
PC-LineScan can interface with up to four synchronized cameras per board; multiple PC-LineScan's can also be combined for demanding multi-camera/multi-tap applications. The new frame grabber provides high-speed image acquisition to 32MB of on-board memory at up to 256 MB/sec, and continuous transfers to system or VGA memory at rates in excess of 100 MB/sec.
Additional PC-LineScan features include two opto-coupled trigger inputs, two RS-232 ports, and an OPTO22-compatible parallel port. PC-LineScan is ideal for inspecting paper and sheet goods, plastics and film, semiconductors, printed circuit boards, steel, and other metals, fiber optics, and wood products.
Comprehensive Vision Software Tools
PC-Linescan is supported by a variety of Coreco Imaging software tools that combine the industry's best sub-pixel accuracy with unmatched ease-of-use. MVTools is a complete set of C/C++ software libraries (DLLs) for OEMs who prefer to develop their own custom vision applications. Hundreds of algorithms support such functions as search, pattern recognition, image statistics, geometric transformation, color image processing, array processing, and more.
For users wanting maximum board control when developing their own applications, the IFC-SDK (Software Development Kit) is a complete C/C++ foundation class library that serves as a high-level API for vision application development. IFC's unique "grab service" allows acquisition of a series of images without missing a single data point.
To speed set-up and make getting started easier, Coreco Imaging's Camera Configurator provides a Microsoft Windows 98 or NT-based point-and-click interface for PC-LineScan, allowing set-up of all camera and interface board parameters. Binaries specific to the hardware are automatically generated by this software utility.
Price & Delivery
The PC-Linescan frame grabber will be available April 1, 2001. Prices will start at $2500. OEM discounts are available.
About Coreco Imaging
Coreco Imaging, the machine vision powerhouse that resulted from the merger of Coreco and Imaging Technology, is the world's leading developer of high performance machine vision tools for OEMs, system integrators, and volume end users. The company designs, manufactures, and markets a complete line of hardware and software solutions for the machine vision, medical imaging, and industrial inspection markets. With over 150,000 installations, Coreco Imaging has earned a worldwide reputation for technology leadership and aggressive price/performance. The company's frame grabbers and embedded vision engines feature such state-of-the-art innovations as ping-pong acquire and hardware scatter gather. Breakthrough software tools provide high speed, high precision pattern recognition despite changes in object/pattern size, orientation, shape, focus, or partial occlusion.
