Subscriber Discussion

Machine Vision Camera Options

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Rogier van der Heide
Jul 11, 2013

I take it not many of you have experience in this field, but I thought I give it a shot anyways.

Any of you have any experience regarding Machine Vision camera systems? Know any reputable brands one should look at and other info that might be handy to know regarding these things.

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Brian Karas
Jul 11, 2013
Pelican Zero

Basler is popular in this category. That's about all I got.

JH
John Honovich
Jul 11, 2013
IPVM

PointGrey, who released announced their first IP cameras, is a machine vision specialist. Lumenera as well.

I am no expert in machine vision so I am just throwing out some companies I have run across in previous reviews.

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Rogier van der Heide
Jul 12, 2013

That's no problem. I was shooting in the dark here as well. Any info is appreciated.

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Brian Rhodes
Jul 12, 2013
IPVMU Certified

Out of curiosity, what about the Machine Vision category excludes 'general' IP cameras?

In the past, it has been high FPS, but now 60 FPS and even higher is not uncommon in the 'surveillance' category.

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Luis Carmona
Jul 14, 2013
Geutebruck USA • IPVMU Certified

From the little I've looked into machine vision cameras, part of the machine vision world is you usually get raw, uncompressed video from the cameras; it's not like MJPEG, MPEG or h264. They are usually attached by USB cable, though Catagory 5/6 cable is becoming more common. But it's not usually TCP transport, but a UTP protocol called GigE.

Sometimes they're sold with housings and sometimes just as boards with images sensors on them.

The idea behind machine vision cameras seems to be high speed, complete images for detailed analysis. They can be looking for imperfections on circuits boards, cracks in bottles at a bottling plant, or reading addresses on letters at the post office for routing, all at high speeds. Most times you're using some custom software you developed or specialized software for MV applications.

Everytime I've talked to a machine vision company about security applications and vice versa we were definitely speaking different languages. But I think more machine vision manufacturers are looking to grow into the security space. And there may be uses there. They're often small for what they are. Being able to buy boards with sensors allows you to design your own housing for say covert use. And some are startng to come out with general TCPIP compatobilie and I think RTSP streaming.

That's the little I know.

JH
John Honovich
Jul 14, 2013
IPVM

Luis, thanks. Machine vision manufacturers have tried to enter the surveillance space for many years. Looking at Lumenera and Basler, it has been a difficult transition. They have few models, only one or two form factors, and often lack bells & whistles / software features the differentiate surveillance cameras. I think it is a hard transition to make, unless you commit completely which costly and time consuming.

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Luis Carmona
Jul 14, 2013
Geutebruck USA • IPVMU Certified

Well at least Basler has separate CCTV and MV lines. I think it's speaks to the unique needs of each industry that they don't have a single CCTV/MV line.

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Ray Bernard
Jul 15, 2013

A few years ago I ran into Pixel Velocity at ISC West, a company whose founders came out of the machine vision field. Their technology has been reviewed breifly here on IPVM a year ago, and has probably evolved a little more since then. Due to their breaking from the traditional model, they have technical options that traditional models don't have. It is a higher end system, and their own videos state that they are not intended to fill the traditional indoor camera needs. I think it's worth taking a look at their website including their videos page.

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Undisclosed
Jul 15, 2013

Sony also has a dedicated line of machine vision cameras with hi res and hi frame rates.

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Undisclosed
Jul 15, 2013

There are many options. What is the application, and what type of interface are you looking for? Different vendors specialize in different cameras/interfaces.

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Undisclosed
Jul 15, 2013

Rogier, I managed Sony's machine vision business for many years. If you can be more specific, I might be able to help with your questions.

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