| Machine Vision and Smart Cameras: Powerful Tools for Machine Builders |
|
|
| From the March, 2008 Issue of Imaging Technology | |
| Feb 20 2008 | |
|
Page 3 of 3
advertisement: Once designers realize that they need to add machine vision to their new designs, the question comes back to which approach works best for them - an offthe- shelf machine vision system (like a smart camera) or a custom design. Cost is a major concern for many machine builders looking at off-the-shelf hardware. Some designers believe that they can save money by going with a custom design over an off-the-shelf solution. Yet, there are several costs associated with a custom design that many designers don’t realize until it’s too late. Understanding these costs up front makes a commercial off-the-shelf product a much more viable option.
One consideration is the time it takes to design a custom system versus the time it takes to implement a system using off-the-shelf parts. Putting together a custom vision sensor and setting up I/O on that sensor to communicate with the rest of the machine is a large task. Years go into the development of many custom designs, and time spent on engineers is expensive. This is often the highest cost associated with custom designs. There are also hidden costs connected to custom designs that are not found in off-the-shelf hardware. Support is a large hidden cost. Designers not only have to support the operation of the machine built (which would be the case with both custom and off-theshelf design), but they also have to support the intricacies of a custom design. When something in the custom design breaks, it may be costly to send someone to the site who has any idea what this custom design is doing or how to fix it. With off-the-shelf products like the smart camera, the support burden falls on the vendor of those products. If something happens to the machinery and the system stops functioning, offthe- shelf products offer a safety blanket on the support side. Smart cameras are examples of commercial off-the-shelf products that can provide machine designers and engineers with the flexibility and power they need to meet the advanced application requirements set before them without having to turn to custom design. There will always be applications where custom design is necessary, but as off-the-shelf measurement and control hardware and software continue to become more powerful and lower in cost, they offer a much more practical solution. This article was written by Matthew Slaughter, Vision Product Marketing Engineer at National Instruments, Austin, TX. For more information, visit Smart cameras can be used in many manufacturing and packaging applications. http://info.hotims.com/15126-145. |
