Digital CMOS Machine Vision Cameras from Cognex

Machine vision cameras generally don't need to provide the same quality of imaging that your typical consumer digital camera gives you because they're mostly used in manufacturing environments to do things like identifying parts rather than providing portraits of them that are suitable for framing. If you need to make your machines see, Cognex just introduced the CDC-100, which it says is the world's smallest high-resolution (1280x1024) digital CMOS camera designed specifically for machine vision applications. For applications requiring high speed acquisition, Cognex also announced the new CDC-50 standard format (640x480 resolution) digital camera. The CDC-50 is able to capture full-frame images at rates of up to 60 frames per second, and, like the CDC-100 camera, is intended for use on robotic arms, as well as in space-constrained environments. The CDC-100 and CDC-50 digital cameras perform a direct 1:1 conversion of the digitized image, providing low noise images without "pixel jitter." This provides the machine vision system with better image data for making decisions, such as where an object is located and whether it is defective. A configurable ROI (region of interest) feature lets you optimize camera performance by selecting and acquiring a limited region of interest within an image. The CDC-100 and CDC-50 cameras are designed for use with Cognex's new MVS-8100D frame grabber. The 8100D features a library of vision software tools, including Cognex's PatMax technology for locating objects despite changes in angle, scale, or appearance. Available in one, two, and three channel configurations, the 8100D enables interchangeability of any combination of up to three CDC-50 and CDC-100 cameras. Asynchronous acquisition support enables each camera to accept triggers and acquire images independently of one another. The CDC-50 and CDC-100 cameras and MVS-8100D digital frame grabber will be available from Cognex in Q1 2002.