Low-cost 2D vision sensor offers the power of a camera

Inspector is claimed to be as powerful as a camera and as easy-to-use as a standard photoelectric sensor. Complete with integral lighting, powerful processing, Ethernet communications and a rugged industrial housing, its competitive price makes it affordable for applications where conventional vision systems would not be.

The Inspector's choice of illumination types, its powerful image evaluation capability and easily programmable configuration make it suitable for a wide range of packaging applications, from label presence and positioning, to pack sealing and level fill verification. Integral Ethernet capability facilitates its integration with DCS communication networks.

A rugged IP67 metal housing ensures the Inspector can withstand harsh industrial and production line environments, for quality assurance inspection in almost any location or orientation. The housing incorporates either a standard ring light or an innovative diffuse dome light for successful inspection of glossy, reflective or metallic surfaces. Integral lighting avoids the need for additional and expensive lighting equipment, which woudl also require careful setting up for consistently accurate results.

The Inspector's intelligent, fast algorithms and powerful processing enable it to meet the speed of virtually any production line, with time-optimised evaluation, real-time differentiation and a simple pass/fail output.

Individual items do not require identical positioning for inspection, as the software evaluates edges, contours, contrast, grey-scale values or pixels in milliseconds, regardless of alignment or ambient light levels. Image capture and evaluation of multiple references occur as soon as an object enters the field of vision, without a trigger signal, thereby reducing non-capture errors.

Configuration of the Inspector is consistently simple and intuitive, and can be achieved on a number of different complexity levels depending on the application requirements. A simple handheld input device or a sophisticated PC interface mean rapid teach-in, and the PC capability facilitates monitoring, statistics capture, recording and emulator testing on filed images.

Typical packaging and parts applications for the Inspector include:

• Bowl feeder inspection
• Part verification even in multi-type production
• Surface defect inspection
• Label positioning, presence and vignetting
• Date code and revenue stamp presence
• Cap and seal inspections
• Contents of blister packs and sterile, soft components bags
• Level and fill heights
• Pack uniformity and alignment in bulk packs

Follow the link for more information about Sick's Inspector 2D vision sensors.