What is a 3D camera and how is it used in machine vision?

A 3D Profile sensor (aka camera) relies on 3D Laser Triangulation techniques that have been around for a long time, but until now were expensive. 3D Laser triangulation a decade ago consisted of using separate components in complicated setups using lasers, lighting, optics and algorithms to capture 3D information. Today, this has become simplified into a single package. Teledyne Dalsa Z-Trak profile sensor puts the optics, lasers and cameras into a single package with comprehensive free software.

Ask us for a quote on Z-trak!

How does the Z-Trak Profile sensor capture 3D information?
As shown in the image below, a laser stripe is projected on the object and imaged on an image sensor. This gives the position of the laser stripe and provides lateral information and depth giving X and Z axis data. By moving the object in the Y-Scan direction the Y-axis data point is provided then giving full X, Y & Z dimensional information.

What applications do 3D laser triangulation solve?
Z-Trak laser profile cameras are GigE Vision compliant permitting it to be used with any image processing software that supports 16 bit acquisition using the GigE Vision protocol. Using 3rd party and open platform software development packages such as Dalsa Sapera Processing 3D, Sherlock 8 3D, Stemmer CVB, GeniCAM tools and MvTec Halcon many applications can be solved.
A partial list of applications is as follows:

Teledyne Dalsa provides free software packages consisting of Sapera Processing with run time licenses and Sherlock 3D. Easy to use demo programs are also included. A few examples using the Sapera source code are as follows:

Full specifications, Data sheets and manual for Teledyne Dalsa Z-Trak can be found HERE.
or request a Quote HERE

Click to contact — Give us some brief idea of your application and we will contact you to
discuss camera options.

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

Ph: 978-474-0044 / info@1stvision.com / www.1stvision.com

February 20, 2019February 20, 2019

New 1.1” FUJINON CF-ZA-1S Series machine vision lenses with 2.5um pixel resolution – Best in class

FUJINON has released its new CF-ZA-1S lens series supporting high resolution 1.1″ format images sensors down to 2.5um pixel pitches. This new series has some unique differences making it our go-to lens for this format size.

In this blog, we cover the unique differences, which are at a price point equal to or lower than competing brands, making it the best in its class.

The FUJINON CF-ZA-1S series with support of 2.5um pixels can be used essentially with any image sensor up to 1.1″ formats needing resolution for small pixels. Focal lengths from 8mm to 50mm are available.

CLICK HERE FOR FULL SPECIFICATIONS ON THE FUJINON CF-ZA-1S LENSES

Main Features of the FUJINON CF-ZA-1S machine vision lens series

High resolution and support of 2.5um pixels from center to edge
FUJINON’s “4D High Resolution” keeps uniform resolution from the image center to the peripherals regardless of lens working distance and f-stop. This is extremely beneficial in applications in which high contrast is needed from center to edge. (i.e Measurement of a part spanning the field of view)Relative illumination reaches 90% +
In general, the illumination of the peripheral areas of the image is determined by the “relative illumination” and the chief ray angle (CFA). FUJINON has designed the lens series to constrain the CRA allowing a good balance to the peripherals of the image as seen below. For machine vision applications needing even illumination, this becomes very important for repeatability.

Vibration and Impact resistant
FUJINON has done a great job within their new lens series to incorporate anti-vibration and resistance to high impacts for no extra cost! In applications such as robotic applications, autonomous vehicles and airborne applications to name a few will benefit from this feature.

This video highlights these features and more. It nicely details how the design constraints the CFA for even illumination and is a nice tutorial.

Ph: 978-474-0044 / info@1stvision.com / www.1stvision.com

Related Blogs

What are the f-numbers on machine vision camera lenses? f-stop explained!

Get a 5MP lens for the price of a 3MP one! FUJI’s new XA-5M lenses.

Not All Lenses are Created Equal! Lens MTF Comparisons

December 10, 2018December 19, 2018

Get a 5MP lens for the price of a 3MP one! FUJI’s new XA-5M lenses.

Fujinon introduced their first 5MP series, the 5MP SA-1s over a decade ago. Back then they were the first really high quality lenses for under $500.

Now, they have introduced their next generation 5MP series, the new XA-5M , and they have made them smaller, better, and less expensive! Now you can get a 5MP rated lens for very close to what 2 or 3MP lens cost with the new HF-XA-5M series lenses! 1stVision has preferred pricing and stock! Contact us for a quote

The Fujinon XA-5M are designed to work at 3.45um resolution (and very good at 2.5um), so they are a great choice for the 3.45um pixels found in the Sony Pregius IMX line of sensors. See image below showing a heat map of the resolution.(Darker red is higher resolution, 2.7um, orange is 3.3, yellow is 4um, light blue is 5um, and dark blue is 6um)

Further, the new CMOS sensors have more of a ‘stacked’ architecture, meaning each pixel is tall. Without having a lens that has a small chief ray angle, which keeps the light rays as close to perpendicular as possible to the sensor, each pixel possibly shades its neighbor. The new Fujinon lenses are designed to solve that problem for these sensors. So when comparing this line to their competitors, there is less shading at the edges and more even illumination!

The results can be seen when comparing the center to edges in an application. In the example below, the text in the center and edge on the FUJI “4D High Resolution” lenses is crisp vs the competition on the right.

Finally, Fujinon has dramatically reduced the size of the lens, all the lenses are 29.5mm in diameter except the 6mm, which is 39.5mm. Now you can get a 5MP rated lens for very close to what 2 or 3MP lens cost with the new HF-XA-5M series lenses! 1stVision has preferred pricing and in stock! Contact us for a quote

Watch this video for more details on how the HF-XA-5M lenses compare to the competition

Related Videos – FUJI is now incorporating anti-shock and vibration into their lens series!

Related Posts

Not All Lenses are Created Equal! Lens MTF Comparisons

There is NO such thing as a “Megapixel” machine vision camera lens!.. Say what??

October 15, 2018December 17, 2018

Learn about CoaXpress and frame rates achievable with Allied Vision’s “Bonito Pro” cameras with CXP-6

What is CoaXPress, especially with “CXP-6” capability?

CoaXPress is an established industry standard allowing high speed communications over coaxial cable. The current version supports bit rates up to 6.25 Gbits/sec over a single coaxial cable. When used in parallel, two or more coaxial cables can provide incremental speed gains. The naming convention associated with CoaXPress signify the bit rate as seen in the chart below. In cases that you see CXP-6 has a bit rate of 6.25 Gb/s. The 4 x means the number of lanes. Multiply the 2 and you get your total bit rate.

The new Allied Vision Bonito Pro cameras utilize 4 DIN 1.0/2.3 connectors on a CXP-6 interface (4 lanes) x 6.25Gbits/Sec. This allows for resolutions of up to 26 megapixels to reach 70 frames per second (fps). The first two Bonito PRO models (Bonito PRO X-2620 and X-1250) support high resolution with 26.6MP and 12.5MP at 80 and 142 fps respectively.

The Bonito PRO cameras are ideal for a wide range of applications including, 2D/ 3D surface inspection, high speed printing, PCB & Electronics inspection.

Even faster frame rates can be achieved using the Bonito Pro X1250 (12.5MP) in partial scan mode. Set to a 768 line height, a rate of 503 fps can be achieved!

The following video’s are good representations of what this relates to in real applications which you can appreciate.

Full specifications for the Allied Vision Bonito Pro cameras can be found HERE, but main features and benefits include:

Sensors available in Monochrome (X-1250B) and Color (X-1250C) and extended near-infrared (X1250B NIR ) models
On board defect pixel and 2D fixed pattern noise correction for improved image quality
Fan-less design for industrial imaging applications.
DIN 1.0 / 2.3 CoaXPress connections for secure operation in industrial environments.
Single cable solutions using trigger and power over CoaXPress (PoCXP)

UPDATE: New video of the Bonito Pro detailing the multi-ROI function