Market launch: IDS presents novel vision app-based sensors and cameras

Vision app-based industrial cameras: Versatile like smartphones

What would smartphones be without apps? They would be ordinary mobile phones and surely far less versatile. With IDS NXT, camera manufacturer IDS applies the app principle to industrial image processing. Users benefit from the greatest possible flexibility: they can assign their required image processing task to vision app-based cameras and sensors according to their individual demand. This approach allows not only a variable functionality of the devices, but also the direct, device-internal processing of information provided by the image sensor. Based on the app development kit and a HALCON embedded runtime license, users can create and install individual vision apps. The IDS NXT platform kicks off with IDS NXT vegas with 1.3 MP CMOS sensor, liquid lens with autofocus, integrated ToF sensor and many other functions.

Traditional vision sensors, such as barcode readers, for example, often provide only a few predefined tasks and their functionality cannot usually be extended. IDS NXT shows that there is another way: the freely programmable platform is not restricted to specific tasks. Instead, users can install different vision apps just as easily as on their smartphone. Afterwards, they can change and set up their preferred vision tasks in a very short time. The image processing engine then delivers either pre-processed data to a PC or final results for independently made process decisions. This offers universal possibilities in numerous application fields, e. g. in optical quality assurance, as an analytical instrument in medical technology, for monitoring tasks by facial recognition or vehicle and person counting.

IDS NXT vegas: The first of its kind
IDS NXT vegas is extremely versatile due to its integrated 1.3 MP CMOS sensor, a liquid lens, LED illumination and Time-of-Flight (ToF) sensor for distance measurement. Device status and network settings can be called up on the high-contrast, highly legible OLED display by just clicking a button. The vision app-based sensor weighs only 185 grams and simplifies design-ins into individual hardware and software. The board level option is also very interesting for OEM equipment manufacturers.

Other features include SOC (system on a chip) with low power consumption and an integrated flash memory (1 GB) for storing error images, system logs, user settings and vision apps. Dust-tight and splash-proof according to IP65, the sensor also comes with vibration-proof, industry-standard M12 circular connectors that provide Gigabit Ethernet, 12-24 V DC power supply, trigger, flash, two digital inputs/outputs and a RS-232 interface. The latter one allows direct communication with a PLC or other machine controls.

The standardised RESTful (Representational State Transfer) web service also provides TCP/IP communication, which can be used to configure all IDS NXT device parameters including the apps. This means that the vision app-based sensor is configured and ready for use in just a few minutes with the help of the Windows IDS NXT Cockpit or an iOS tablet with the IDS NXT mobile app. IDS NXT vegas comes with a full HALCON embedded runtime license and the IDS NXT Software Development Kit.