Q+A CENTER

Machine Vision Interfaces Face Power Struggle

Interface diversity in machine vision has increased dramatically in the past few years. Camera Link, FireWire a, FireWire b and USB 2.0 are penetrating the market to an increasing extent. However, the Gigabit Ethernet standard has recently appeared in the interface universe. Who will be the winner?

The number of interfaces for video data transmission in machine vision tasks has recently increased by leaps and bounds. The market offers frame grabbers with a PCI, PCI-X and PCI Express slot, with analog and digital transmission technology. The newest product is the 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GigE).

Anyone wanting to finally clarify this issue will have an opportunity at VISION 2005, International Trade Fair for Machine Vision and Identification Technologies, which will be held at the Stuttgart Trade Fair Centre in Killesberg, Germany on Nov. 8-10. Trade visitors can get advice from experts and to see the products and system solutions relating to the following question: What transmission technology is best suited for my application?

"Before answering this question," says Patrick Gailer, product manager for image recording hardware at Stemmer Imaging GmbH (Puchheim, Germany), "it is first necessary to examine other criteria that often come off badly in the intense discussion concerning interfaces."

To fulfill the speed and accuracy required in an inspection task, Gailer believes that three properties are initially important for users: a high level of robustness or data security, flexibility and availability. After examining these topics, a task that also includes selecting a hardware-independent software platform, Gailer says it is possible to analyze interface problems in conjunction with an optimum sensor.