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Sony FCB zoom cameras for safety and monitoring analysis now in the FRAMOS portfolio

By including Sony FCB video cameras in its portfolio, FRAMOS a Sony distributor for many years is expanding its already extensive product range. In addition to Sony sensors, OLED displays and DVBT components, FRAMOS now also offers Sony block cameras from the FCB EH/EV series with High Definition, the FCB EX series in Standard Definition and the FCB-MA130 miniature camera module, which is the most compact Full HD OEM camera module on the market. FRAMOS is therefore in a position to offer every kind of image processing component, from sensors to displays, from accessories to cameras.

Sony block cameras are the right choice particularly in the field of safety, monitoring and automation. With up to 40x optical zoom, equipped with Sony Exmor CMOS or Super HAD CCD sensors that are available with Full HD and 60 fps, these cameras achieve high resolution and light sensitivity in television quality. The numerous integrated image optimisation features and reduced signal-to-noise ratio promise excellent image capture in terms of colour and definition. Combined with highly sensitive sensors, they can therefore record and play back small details in outstanding quality in such areas as biometric identification or in the virtual world of 3D modelling.

The cameras of the EV/EX series feature defogging correction for images in foggy or dusty environments, ensuring precise results in sports analysis or monitoring applications for cranes or drones, for example. Whats more, different contrast corrections are employed for the individual areas of an image (light and dark zones), to obtain an optimum overall image. In addition, in Wide Dynamic Range mode, the cameras merge several images captured with different exposure times to create a highly dynamic overall image rich in contrast. 2D and 3D noise reduction can also be used in combination in static and dynamic areas of the image, achieving greater sensitivity and minimal image noise.

The FCB-MA130 is the ultra-compact zoom camera module for OEM, with miniature dimensions of only 16.5 x 18 x 10.3 mm. This delivers still images with a resolution of up to 13 MP, and videos in Full HD quality (1080p/30). This all-in-one colour camera module with one-push autofocus boasts DSP with a wealth of functions, and a powerful 1/2.45″ Exmor CMOS sensor. With plug-and-play recognition via USB 3.0 and standard UVC, the compact board allows users fast, easy integration in their systems.

Stefan Waizmann, Head of Product Management at FRAMOS, explains: “With FCB zoom camera solutions, we are taking the next logical step in expanding our extensive portfolio of products from Sony, our partner of many years. Together with the external frame grabbers especially for Sony FCBs from our partner Pleora, we can now offer our customers flexible, space-saving solutions with USB3.0 and Gigabit Ethernet interface, as well as native digital video signals, all from a single source.”

About FRAMOS:

For FRAMOS, image processing is not just a technical discipline, but a fascination, the future and our mission all at the same time. Since 1981 FRAMOS is a leading technology provider in industrial, scientific and medical image processing. Headquartered in Munich and with 5 subsidiaries worldwide we enable manufacturers, system integrators and researchers to benefit from imaging technologies. Our team of approximately 80 associates offers a fully comprehensive portfolio of imaging components, technical consulting and support. Thanks to many years of experience in the industry, we offer engineering services for custom camera development as well as complete turn-key-solutions. We are proud of our participation in a revolutionary technology. The spirit of innovation and development of our early days has remained at the heart of our company.

Contact:
FRAMOS GmbH
Mehlbeerenstrae 2
82024 Taufkirchen, Germany
Phone: +49 (0) 89-710667-0
Fax: +49 (0) 89-710667-66

Press: Werner Weber, w.weber@framos.com
www.framos.com

SINTEF: Using robots to get more food from raw materials

Can an industrial robot succeed both at removing the breast fillet from a chicken, and at the same time get more out of the raw materials? Researchers have now built a fully-functional robot in the lab to automate the process of extracting breast fillets from chickens. This is a task normally performed by skilled human hands.

They have built a fully-functional robot in the lab to automate the process of extracting breast fillets from chickens. This is a task normally performed by skilled human hands. “Our aim is to automate absolutely everything we can think of on the food production line,” says Ekrem Misimi at SINTEF. This will make Norwegian food production more sustainable, both in terms of profitability and utilisation of raw materials.
Sharp-eyed robot with nimble fingers
 
Ekrem is a technical cyberneticist with a doctoral degree in machine vision, and has specialised in providing robots with sharp, three-dimensional vision — which in this case means eyes for the anatomy of a chicken. “Automating this process is something that no one else in the world has succeeded in doing before. Except us,” says Misimi proudly.
“We at SINTEF are the only specialists in Norway to have focused on solving these kinds of problems for the food industry,” he adds. So far, one of our results is the robot Gribbot, named because of its resemblance to a vulture’s beak (‘gribb’ is the Norwegian for vulture). Gribbot is well equipped. It has a hand for grasping, specially developed ‘fingers’, and three-dimensional vision. Its ‘eyes’ have been borrowed from a 3D camera familiar to all games fans — the Microsoft Kinect 2. These are all needed because a chicken fillet is a delicate object that must be handled extremely carefully. The robotic hand must not spoil it with marks or other quality defects. Both the robot’s vision and its grasping hand are critical factors.

 

Smooth and shiny

 

“Generally speaking, it’s a major challenge to get a robot to process biological raw materials, because it involves automating a task that is normally performed by skilled people. The raw materials also vary in terms of their size and properties. It’s easy to deform or damage a chicken fillet,” explains Misimi. And because it’s so smooth, a chicken fillet is also an extremely reflective object. That makes it difficult to obtain fully detailed 3D images. The texture also means that the meat is hard to grip. “We realised this early on when we began our research, and were determined to develop a flexible system that could not only tackle variations in the raw materials, but also the mechanical challenges of extracting the fillet from the chicken,” says Misimi.

 

Mathematical ‘brain surgery’

 

Naturally, controlling the robot is a key factor. The algorithm, or mathematical computational model, that constitutes the brain of the robot has also been developed by SINTEF. It is this that enables the robot to perform the operation to the same standard as a human being. If the robot’s arm is to be guided precisely to the raw materials with the aid of 3D images, it is essential for the camera (the robot’s eyes) and the robot itself to ‘speak the same language’. “In other words, the robot’s coordinate system must be able to understand the coordinates identified by the machine vision,” explains Misimi. (What is a base coordinate system? I am concerned that things may become too detailed here and will only confuse the reader, so I will just call it the coordinate system. I have therefore abbreviated this a little.) In order to address this problem, the robot is pre-calibrated to ensure that its ‘hand’ and ‘eye’ understand each other.

 

To the last shred

 

Gribbot has been developed as part of a larger project called CYCLE. Its main aim is to make Norwegian food production, including fish, vegetables and meat, more profitable, more environmentally friendly and more efficient. In other words — more sustainable. “The fact is that almost half the food currently produced never reaches the consumer because it is lost along the production line due to the fact that we don’t have the technology to process the raw materials,” says Misimi.

 

More profitable and environmentally-friendly

 

“Automating this work will speed up production and make it more efficient. It will free up the producer’s capacity and make better use of the raw materials. In the case of chicken fillets, this also means making optimum use of the material. A flexible grasping tool scrapes the carcass while it is pulling off the fillet, and this removes as much of the meat as possible,” explains Misimi. The idea is to continue developing Gribbot as part of future projects, so that it will be possible to make use of any meat that may be left on the chicken carcass after the fillet has been ‘harvested’ by the robot.

Adimec Advanced Image Systems bv Earns ISO 9001:2008 Renewal

EINDHOVEN, The Netherlands, December 8, 2014 – Adimec (www.adimec.com), a world leader in application-specific, leading-edge industrial camera solutions, has received renewal of the ISO 9001:2008 certification for its headquarters in the Netherlands after a scheduled audit reconfirming its status as an efficient and reliable partner for its customers and strategic partners. Adimec was originally certified in 2002 and has met or exceeded requirements for certification renewal as scheduled since then. The quality-management certification covers all of the companys sales, development, production and service activities of all OEM industrial cameras for machine vision, healthcare, and global security markets

The ISO 9001:2008 standard is based on a number of quality management principles including a strong customer focus, the motivation and implication of top management, the process approach and continual improvement. The ISO 9001:2008 standard focuses on enhancing customer satisfaction and establishing products compliance with the requirements of users and regulatory groups and it has become recognized worldwide as the standard that defines quality.

“We are proud of this result, which enables us to continue doing business with the most demanding customers all over the world,” said Adimecs Quality Manager Corn Schoenmaker.

As a supplier to manufacturers of the state-of-the-art image-based systems, including those for semiconductor and electronics metrology and inspection, medical diagnostics, and long-range observation and airborne surveillance, ISO 9001:2008 certification is expected and is one part of Adimecs overall commitment to quality. Our customers rely on copy-exact to support their tool matching requirements, and strict change control in addition to other quality management systems.The ISO 9001:2008 certification is scheduled for renewal in four years.

 


About Adimec
 

Adimec specializes in the development and manufacturing of high-performance cameras that meet the application-specific requirements of key market segments, including machine vision, medical imaging, and outdoor imaging. Founded in 1992, the company partners with major OEMs around the world to facilitate the creation of industry-leading cameras. Its products meet a wide range of performance, size, cost, interface and application requirements and its Adimec True Accurate Imaging technology provides new levels of precision and accuracy to vision systems. Adimec has offices around the world focused on creating customer value and satisfaction through local, personalized support. For more information, go to www.adimec.com. For more information on imaging and vision topics, check our blog.

 

Contact Information
:
Adimec Advanced Image Systems b.v.
Tel: +31-40-2353900

Fax: +31-40-2353905

 


Press Contact:
E. Nugteren (enugteren@adimec.com)

Euresys appoints two new distributors in North America

Euresys, a leading supplier of image acquisition and software of the machine vision is pleased to announce the appointment of Saber1 Technologies LLC and Motion Analysis, Inc. as North American distributors. Both companies are focused on machine vision and come with more than 40 years combined experience of distributing machine vision components.

“We are excited to be working with Saber1 and Motion Analysis as we launch our CoaXPress line of frame grabbers called Coaxlink” says Keith Russell, President of Euresys Inc.

Saber1 Technologies LLC is a leading provider of digital imaging products, accessories, systems and solutions. Formed in 2000, Saber1 exists for and because of our customers and the partners we represent. Our primary goal is to deliver quality goods and services to our customers. 
Shaun, the founder of Saber1, says, “I am pleased we are able to offer Euresys products to our customers. Euresys line of frame grabbers are reasonably priced hardware solutions that just workrivaled only by the extensive software offering that compliments Euresys products. It is a win for us to have such a great product line.”

Motion Analysis Inc. was established in 1984 and is a true veteran of the ever expanding machine vision marketplace. Motions founder, Marshall Johnson said, “We are excited to be working together again with Euresys and Keith Russell. We go back a long way with Keith and expect good things to happen. We believe the Euresys product mix dovetails nicely with our latest camera technology like CoaXPress. And, their analog products are a perfect fit for our legacy customers who wish to continue on that path.”

With Pleora’s iPORT CL-U3, FRAMOS Transforms Camera Link Cameras into USB3 Vision Cameras

As spotted in the latest Market Research Study by FRAMOS Technologies, fast interfaces like GigE and USB 3.0 Vision in vision technologies are one of the biggest game changers for the further development of machine vision. Currently manufacturers still rely heavily on CameraLink coupled with currently used cameras creating strong demand from customers for frame grabbers to bridge the gap between speed and usability.

Pleoras iPORT CL-U3 External Frame Grabber FRAMOS was first to bring the plug-and-play usability and low-cost cabling advantages of USB3 Vision to Camera Link installations allowing designers to cut the cost, improve usability, and reduce the complexity of vision systems by treating Camera Link cameras like plug-and-play USB 3.0 products.
Stefan Waizmann, Head of Product Management from Pleoras distributor FRAMOS explains: “Pleora’s iPORT CL-U3 meets growing demand from equipment manufacturers for vision system solutions that leverage low-cost, easy-to-use video interfaces such as USB3 Vision. The iPORT CL-U3 allows manufacturers deploying Camera Link cameras in new vision systems or upgrade projects to benefit from USB3’s economical cabling, straightforward installation, and compatibility with a wider range of computing platforms.”
The iPORT CL-U3 External Frame Grabber products convert images from Camera Link Medium or Base cameras into a USB3 Vision-compliant video stream. The uncompressed video is transmitted with low, consistent latency over a USB 3.0 cable directly to existing ports on a computer or display. By eliminating the need for a Camera Link frame grabber in a PCIe slot, designers are free to choose from a broad selection of small form factor and low-power computing platforms, including laptops, embedded systems, and tablets. With Pleoras feature-rich eBUS SDK application, designers can rapidly prototype and deploy production-ready software supporting video transmission over 10 GigE, GigE, USB 3.0, and wireless using the same application programming interface (API).

 

Benefits of USB3 for microscopy and factory automation

In microscopy applications for life sciences, measurement, and quality control, transmitting microscopic images to a computer for analysis and observation, the iPORT CL-U3 allows designers to retain existing cameras, sensors, and optics while leveraging the ubiquitous computing platform support and simplified cabling of USB3. In comparison to previous systems with more complexity, bulky cabling and higher costs, the iPORT CL-U3 transmits images from the microscope camera over an off-the-shelf, thin, flexible USB 3.0 cable directly to a port on a laptop, single-board computer, or tablet. Integrated programmable logic converter (PLC) and GPIO capabilities allow end-users to control, trigger and synchronize the camera and other vision system elements.
The iPORT CL-U3 product family also includes models that deliver enhanced PLC and GPIO capabilities to minimize the effects of electrical noise, power over Camera Link (PoCL) to simplify cabling, and an extended -20C to +65C temperature operating range. In bin-picking or sorting robots for assembly and manufacturing lines, the image feed from a Camera Link Base or Medium line scan camera is converted at the source into USB3 Vision-compliant video by the iPORT CL-U3. Video, power and control is transmitted between the camera and image-processing computer over a single USB 3.0 cable. The thinner, lighter USB 3.0 cable is easier to route than bulky Camera Link cables, allowing faster setup and teardown of work cells for different products and short production runs.
Leveraging the onboard PLC, the iPORT CL-U3 uses input signals to accurately and deterministically control and trigger the camera and other vision systems elements, such as area sensors and lighting sources. The sophisticated real-time GPIO interfaces with all types of sensors, and employs differential signaling and high-threshold logic (HTL) techniques to minimize the effects of electrical noise.
About FRAMOS:
 
For FRAMOS, image processing is not just a technical discipline, but a fascination, the future and our mission all at the same time. Since 1981 FRAMOS is a leading technology provider in industrial, scientific and medical image processing. Headquartered in Munich and with 5 subsidiaries worldwide we enable manufacturers, system integrators and researchers to benefit from imaging technologies. Our team of approximately 80 associates offers a fully comprehensive portfolio of imaging components, technical consulting and support. Thanks to many years of experience in the industry, we offer engineering services for custom camera development as well as complete turn-key-solutions. We are proud of our participation in a revolutionary technology. The spirit of innovation and development of our early days has remained at the heart of our company.
FRAMOS GmbH
Mehlbeerenstrae
282024 Taufkirchen, Germany
Phone: +49 (0)89-710667-0
Fax: +49 (0)89-710667-66
Press: Werner Weber, w.weber@framos.com