Category: Cameras

So you want to do an in-line measurement, inspection, identification and/or guidance application in automotive, electronics, semiconductor or factory automation. Whether a new application or time for an upgrade, you know that Teledyne DALSA’s Z-Trak 3D Laser Profiler balances high performance while also offering a low total cost of ownership.

In this 2nd Edition release we update the Z-Trak family overview with the addition of the new LP2C 4k series, bringing even more options along the price : performance spectrum. From low cost and good enough, through more resolution as well as fast, and all the way to highest resolution, there are a range of Z-Trak profiles to choose from.

The first generation Z-Trak product, the LP1, is the cornerstone of the expanded Z-Trak family, now augmented with the Z-Trak2 group (V-series and the S-series), plus the LP2C 4k series. Each product brings specific value propositions – here we aim to help you navigate among the options.

Respecting the reader’s time, key distinctions among the series are:

• LP1 is the most economical 3D profiler on the market – contact us for pricing.
• Z-Trak2 is one of the fastest 3D profilers on the market – with speeds to 45kHz.
• LP2C 4k provides 4,096 profiles per second at resolution down to 3.5 microns.

To guide you effectively to the product best-suited for your application, we’ve prepared the following table, and encourage you to fill in the blanks, either on a printout of the page or via copy-past into a spreadsheet (for your own planning or to share with us as co-planners).

Compare your application’s key attributes from above with some of the feature capacities of the three Z-Trak product families below, as a first-pass at determining fit:

Unless the fit is obvious – and often it is not – we invite you to send us your application requirements. We we love mapping customer requirements, so please send us your application details in our form on this contact link; or you can send us an email to info@1stvision.com with the feedback from your 3D application’s “Key questions” above.

In addition to the parameter-based approach to choosing the ideal Z-Trak model, we also offer an empirical approach – send in your samples. We have a lab set up to inspect customer samples with two or more candidate configurations. System outputs can then be examined for efficacy relative to your performance requirements, to determine how much is enough – without over-engineering.

1st Vision’s sales engineers have over 100 years of combined experience to assist in your camera and components selection.  With a large portfolio of lenses, cables, NIC card and industrial computers, we can provide a full vision solution!

Note: This is the 2nd edition of a blog originally published December 16, 2022, now augmented with the Z-Trak LP2C 4k series.

Some applications demand high resolution from 16MP or up to 151MP. Thanks to dual and 10GigE interfaces, Camera Link, and CoaXPress, getting image data from the camera to the computer can be accomplished at speeds matched to application requirements, using camera series HR and SHR from SVS-Vistek.

What kind of applications require such resolution? Detail-demanding manufacturing inspection, geo mapping, life science, film industry and other applications require, or benefit from, a high resolution image delivered from the camera directly to the PC. Prior to the convergence of high-resolution sensors and high-speed interfaces, one might have needed multiple smaller-resolution cameras to capture the entire field of view – but with complex optical alignment and image-stitching (in software) to piece together the desired image.

The HR series offers resolutions from 16 – 120MP. The SHR series ranges from 47 – 151MP. While every machine vision camera offers various features designed to enhance ease-of-use or applications outcomes, here are some particular features we highlight from one or both of the HR or SHR series:

• Minimal 128 MB internal image memory, burst mode – capture sequences rapidly on the camera and transfer them to the computer before the next event
• LED controller for continuous & strobe built into camera – avoids the need to purchase and integrate a separate controller
• Programmable logic functions , sequencers and timers – critical for certain applications where programmed capture sequences can be pre-loaded on the camera
• RS-232 serial data to control exposure, lights or lenses
• Long exposure times up to 60 seconds (camera model dependent) – useful for low-light applications such as those sometimes found in life sciences or astrophysics
• Camera Link, CoaXPress and 10GigE interface options (varies by model)

For pricing on the HR / HSR Series, follow the family links below to the series table, then click on “Get quote” for a specific model of interest. Or just call us at 978-474-0044 to discuss your application and let us guide you to the best fit.

SVS-Vistek HR series

SVS-Vistek SHR series

The HR series uses a range of CCD and CMOS sensors from CANON, Sony and ON Semi. The SDR series use both CCDs from ON Semi and  CMOS sensors from Sony. The same sensor choices and feature sets are offered across several popular machine vision interfaces, permitting users to tailor their own need for speed to specific application requirements. SVS-VISTEK engineering and manufacturing precision mounts these high-resolution sensors, which allows users to have distortion free, high quality, high content images.

At the time of writing, note the newest member of the SHR series, the shr661. At 127 megapixels this CMOS sensor camera has remarkably high resolution with a global shutter. With the IMX661 sensor from the Sony Pregius series, the backlight technology enables very high light sensitivity and above-average noise behavior. This enables an image quality with which even the finest structures can be resolved. The shr661 is one of the most powerful industrial cameras on the market. 

Those familiar with high-resolution sensors may know about dual and quad-tap sensors, whereby higher frame rates may be achieved with electronics permitting two or more sections of the sensor’s pixel values to be read out in parallel. A traditional challenge to that approach has been for camera manufacturers to match or balance the taps so that no discernable boundary line is visible in the composite stitched image. SVS-Vistek is an industry leader with their proprietary algorithm for multi-tap image stitching.

1st Vision’s sales engineers have over 100 years of combined experience to assist in your camera and components selection.  With a large portfolio of lenses, cables, NIC card and industrial computers, we can provide a full vision solution!

While we’re all familiar with imaging in the human visible spectrum, there are also huge opportunities in non-visible portions of the spectrum. Infra-red and its sub-domains NIR, SWIR, MWIR, and LWIR have a range of compelling applications, at wavelengths just-longer than visible, starting at 800nm. Products that take us to the shorter-than-visible wavelengths, where we find UV, aren’t as well known to many. But there are sensors, cameras, lighting, filters, and best-practices for a wide range of applications generating value for many already.

Starting at the lower end of the visible spectrum, from 380nm until about 10nm, we find the ultraviolet (UV) spectrum.

Applications areas include but are not limited to:

• High-speed material sorting (including recyclables)
• Biological domains:
  • Food inspection
  • Plant monitoring
  • Fluorescence analysis
• Glass, gemstone, and liquid inspection
• Semiconductor process monitoring
• Power line inspection

Consider the following three-part illustration relative to recyclables sorting:

In a typical recyclables operation, after magnets pick out ferrous materials and shakers bin the plastics together, one must efficiently separate plastics by identifying and picking according to materials composition. In the rightmost image above, we see that the visible spectrum is of little help in distinguishing polystyrene from acrylic resin. But per the middle image above, a pseudo-image computationally mapped into the visible spectrum, the acrylic resin appears black while the polystyrene is light gray. The takeway isn’t for humans to watch the mixed materials, of course, but to enable a machine vision application where a robot can pick out one class of materials from another.

For the particular example above, a camera, lighting, and lensing are tuned to a wavelength of 365nm, as shown in the leftmost illustration. Acrylic resin blocks that wavelength, appearing black in the calculated pseudo-image, while polycarbonate permits some UV light to pass – enough to make it clear it isn’t acrylic resin.

Different materials block or pass different wavelengths, but knowledge of those characteristics, and the imaging “toolkit” of sensors, lighting, filters, etc., are the basis for effective machine vision applications.

Here’s just one more application example:

Scenario: we want to inspect components that may need replacing because they are showing electric discharge, as opposed to doing costly scheduled replacements on items that still have service life in them. From a ground-based imaging system, we establish the field of view on the component (marked by the purple rectangle). We take a visible image of the component; also a UV image revealing whether discharge is present; then we computationally create a pseudo-image to either log “all good” or trigger a service action for that component.

As mentioned above, biological applications, glass and fluid inspection, and semiconductor processes are also well-suited to UV imaging – it’s beyond the scope of this piece to show every known application area!

In the UV space, we are pleased to represent SVS Vistek cameras. While SVS Vistek specializes in “Beyond the Visible”, in the UV area they offer three distinct cameras. Each features Sony Pregius UV high resolution image sensors with high dynamic range and sensitivity in the 200 – 400 nm range. Maximum frame rates, depending on camera model, range from 87fps – 194fps. Interfaces include GigE and CoaXPress.

Tell us about your intended application – we love to guide customers to the optimal solution.

1st Vision’s sales engineers have over 100 years of combined experience to assist in your camera and components selection.  With a large portfolio of lenses, cables, NIC card and industrial computers, we can provide a full vision solution!

Illustrations in this blog courtesy of SVS Vistek.