Technical Notes

  1. What is GigE Vision

    GigE Vision - Gigabit Ethernet Cameras for Industrial Applications 
    Camera interface standards for machine vision cameras have evolved over the last ten years. A decade ago, industrial digital cameras were very difficult to install and integrate into machine vision systems. The difficulty was largely because there were no camera interface standards. System integrators and end users desparately needed something more standardized.

    In the late 90's, the AIA formed a camera interface standard based on channel link, a parallel bus designed particularly for laptop computer displays. By defining a standard cable and connector, together with some standardized signal assignments, the Cameralink™ standard was born. Around the same time, IEEE-1394 firewire cameras were conforming to a digital camera interface standard called DCAM, now more commonly known as IIDC. The DCAM (IIDC) camera interface standard went further than Cameralink in that it not only defined a standardized hardware interface but also defined a standardized software control interface making DCAM-compliant firewire cameras truely plug and play. Until recently, these two interfaces have dominated the industrial digital camera market.

    However, there is a new interface standard that will soon dominate the industrial camera market. The AIA GigE Vision™ standard for Gigabit Ethernet cameras is now the state of the art interface for high-performance digital cameras for machine vision and industrial applications.

    What is Gig-E? 
    GigE, or Gigabit Ethernet, is a particularly fast version of Ethernet which everyone knows and loves. Every one is familiar with Ethernet because it is the ubiquitous means of connecting a computer to a network. Standard Ethernet has a maximum data rate of 10 megabits per second (Mbps) and Fast Ethernet has a maximum data rate of 100 Mbps, but Gigabit Ethernet is much faster at 1000 Mbps. Standard Ethernet and Fast Ethernet are too slow for streaming uncompressed image data, and way too slow for machine vision cameras. Gigabit Ethernet (GigE), however, with its maximum data rate of 1000 Mbps, or 1 gigabit per second (Gbps) is capable of handling streaming image data and providing reliable transmission of image data from high performance machine vision cameras such as the Gigabit Ethernet cameras from Baumer and Imperex. These GigE cameras are capable of streaming data at a sustained rate of 125 megabytes per second over their gigabit Ethernet interface.

    What is GigE Vision? 
    The GigE Vision™ standard from the AIA is an interface standard for high-performance machine vision cameras that is widely supported in the industrial imaging industry. GigE (Gigabit Ethernet), on the other hand, is simply the network structure on which GigE Vision is built. The GigE Vision standard includes both a hardware interface standard (Gigabit Ethernet) and standardized means of communicating with, and controlling, a camera. The GigE Vision camera control registers are based on a command structure called GenICam which is administered through the European Machine Vision Association (EMVA). GenICam seeks to establish a common camera control interface so that third party software can communicate with cameras from various manufacturers without customization. GenICam is incorporated as part of the GigE Vision standard, so any truly GigE Vision-compliant camera also complies with GenICam. GigE Vision is analogous to Firewire's DCAM (IIDC) and has great value for reducing system integration costs and for improving ease of use.

    What is so great about GigE Vision and Gigabit Ethernet? 
    GigE Vision is quite exciting because it provides many features that are unavailable in other camera interfaces. The combined features of high data rate (required for uncompressed video or imaging applications), ubiquitous computer interface hardware, low cost cabling, and widespread popularity make Gigabit Ethernet an attractive interface option for machine vision cameras. With the advent of GigE Vision, a standardized camera communication protocol from the Advanced Imaging Association (AIA), GigE has become more attractive still. Here are a few of the compelling benefits of GigE Vision-compliant cameras:

    • Gigabit Ethernet ports are common on PCs and laptop computers, so there is no need for special interface cards or expensive/complicated frame grabbers in order to operate a GigE Vision camera.
    • GigE provides high bandwidth to transmit uncompressed image data from a camera to a host computer in real time at speeds that exceed the requirements of most industrial machine vision applications. This negates the need for complex and expensive interfaces like Cameralink.
    • Gigabit Ethernet provides a high performance camera interface to convey control and image data over long cable lengths. Cable lengths up to 100 meters long using inexpensive CAT5e cabling are possible. Even longer distances are possible using switches or fiber optics. Such long cable lengths far exceed the maximum cable lengths of Cameralink, firewire, and USB.
    • GigE Vision is compatible with standard Gigabit Ethernet hardware allowing networking of cameras. This is especially useful in situations requiring multiple views and opens up new machine vision applications in Intelligent Traffic Systems (ITS) and public security imaging.
    • GigE Vision allows multicasting of image data simultaneously to multiple computers for distributing the image processing load across separate computers.
    • CAT5e or CAT6 Ethernet cables can be easily manufactured on-site using low cost cabling and tools. This feature is especially useful for outdoor installations where cameras may be mounted on poles or buildings and where the cable must be routed as the site demands.
    • The new GigE Vision standard provides ease of use that surpasses other common camera interfaces.
    • The fast successor to GigE, 10GigE, offers 10 gigabit per second (Gbps) data rates that when applied to cameras means that parallel interfaces like Camera Link are no longer be necessary even for high-speed applications

    How are GigE Vision cameras different from other Gigabit Ethernet cameras? 
    GigE Vision cameras, such as the Baumer TXG-Series and the Imperx Bobcat-Series, are machine-vision cameras that supply uncompressed image data in real time, usually at very high data rates, that is suitable for image analysis.

    Most other types of Ethernet camera are not suited to machine vision because they supply only compressed image data, and that only at very limited data rates. Some so-called 'smart cameras' use Ethernet to transmit non-image data from the camera to a network, but these are generally application specific image sensors that are not suited to generalized imaging.

    GigE Vision cameras such as Baumer TXG and the Imperx Bobcat GigE Vision cameras are specially designed to handle the dataflow in dedicated hardware providing uncompressed, very fast, very reliable data throughput in a form that is suitable for computer analysis.

    Baumer and Imperx currently offers wide selection of CCD and CMOS machine vision cameras that conform to the GigE Vision standard providing an ease of use and integration that has not previously been available.

    To speak with a Sales & Applications Engineer please call 01582 764334 or click here to email.
  2. Packaging and Process Troubleshooting

    Using high speed video recording system to troubleshoot equipment failures presents several advantages over standard video. Most production workers are familiar with the type of video quality produced by traditional surveillance or security cameras. This footage tends to be grainy and lacks the detail required for accurate analysis. Security cameras are meant to be used in situations where a broad picture of the events that are unfolding is “good enough.” However, when it comes to assessing the problems afflicting delicate and complicated machinery, a much higher level of detail is required.

    Given that packaging and other industrial equipment often operates at a high rate of speed, it is difficult or even impossible for a standard camera to produce images or video useful for diagnosing failures or other issues. It is for this reason that TroublePix and StreamPix is capable of interfacing with a wide range of cameras.

    The Troublepix software is designed for factory floor applications or requirements needing a simple user interface. With TroublePix, you can acquire, view and review all within the same user interface. TroublePix provides features such as looping, Pre/Post triggering, event marking and much more.

    The Streampix software is designed to capture from single or multiple cameras simultaneously. StreamPix 5 provides a complete management console for cameras, simplifying the setup, control and acquisition from any number and type of camera. The number of cameras supported is only limited by a condition wherein the combined data rate of the cameras exceeds the internal bus bandwidth or processor capabilities of the computer.

    StreamPix 5

    MV APP1 1

    • Troubleshoot your production line or analyse hardware issues by imaging
    • View events from multiple angles. Pinpoint the root cause of production line failures
    • Operator friendly GUI and tools
    • Lower down time and increased productivity
    • Acquire from all cameras in a continuous loop or in pre-post loop with triggering for start stop. 4 or 8 cameras per computer
    • Solutions available from 90 to 1000 frames per second. Resolution from 640 x 480 up to 4k x 4k
    • Compatible with GigE, FireWire A or B, USB, Analog or CameraLink cameras from all major camera manufacturers.

    TroublePix

    MV APP1 2

    • Designed for non technical operators
    • Full screen mode, specially designed for use with touchscreen displays
    • Solutions available for high speed from 60 to 1850 fps at VGA and high resolution
    • Provides quick access to exposed camera/grabber features
    • Multiple image display modes with zoom capability
    • Lots of keyboard shortcut to speed operation without using mouse.

    Further TroublePix information 

    Accessories

    Lenses 
    Lighting 
    Cameras 
    Frame Grabbers

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  3. MALDI: Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption Ionisation

    Description: A time of flight spectrometry technique, allowing the analysis of biomolecules and large organic molecules

    Recommended Product: Stanford Research NL100

    • Goal: to know 
      the molecular weight distribution of a polymer sample
    • Preparation of the sample: Solved in a solvant and mixed with a special component which absorbs UV (matrix)
    MALDI 01

    MALDI 02

    Typical MALDI layout

    MALDI 03

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  4. LIDAR: Light Detection and Ranging

    Description: A remote-sensing technique that uses a laser light source to probe the characteristics of a target

    Recommended Product: Quantel Brilliant

    • Atmosphere control
      1. Density
      2. Temperature
      3. Wind
      4. Pollution...
    • Distance, 
      speed measurement
      1. Rayleigh, Mie scattering
      2. Raman scattering
      3. Fluorescence
      4. Doppler shift
    LIDAR 01

    LIDAR: Principle

    • The laser light, back-scattered by particules, is collected by a telescope.
    • The time delay between emission and reception represents the distance (time of flight).
    • The intensity is an image of the particules density
    • Laser/telescope unit is mounted on a mobile system
    LIDAR 02

    LIDAR: Typical set-up

    LIDAR 03

    LIDAR: Applications


    LIDAR 04

    Anhui Inst. Of technology, China

      • Localisation of pollution emission
      • Measure of the limit layer of the atmosphere
      • Measure of the diffusion of pollution clouds
      • Ozone hole

    LIDAR 05 

      • Aerosol measurements

    LIDAR 06 

    • “Nadezhda”, Russian ship sailing in Singapore area
    1. Measure of the atmosphere around the world
    LIDAR 07
    • Laser Brilliant mounted on emission/reception telescope
    LIDAR 08
    • LIDAR in operation
    LIDAR 09 

    LIDAR 10

       

    LIDAR: Commercial Systems

    • Elight
    • Leosphere
    • Polis
    • Raymetrics
    LIDAR 11
    LIDAR 12
    LIDAR 13
    LIDAR 14
    LIDAR 15
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  5. LIBS: Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy

    Description: A form of atomic emission spectroscopy in which a pulsed laser ablates a small amount of material from the sample's surface, the light from which is captured and analysed by a spectrograph

    Recommended Product: Big Sky Ultra

    Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) is a type of atomic emission spectroscopy in which a pulsed laser, generally a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser, is used as the excitation source.

    The output of the laser is focussed onto the surface of the material to be analysed. The high power density at the surface (in excess of 1 Gigawatt per cm2) causes a fraction of a microgramme of material to be ejected from the surface (ablated) and a short-lived, highly luminous plasma is formed.

    General LIBS system configuration 
    A typical LIBS experimental set up. Image courtesy of Applied Photonics .


    The ejected material in the plasma dissociates into various ionic and atomic species. As the plasma cools, the excited ions and atoms emit optical radation. This emitted optical radiation is then analysed by a sensitive spectrograph and provides information about the composition of the material.

    LIBS spectrum of gold ore 
    LIBS spectrum of gold ore. Image courtesy of Applied Photonics .


    LIBS has many advantages over other techniques as it is virtually non-destructive (only a minute amount of material is ablated) it can be acheived remotely (up to 100m away) and the sample requires no preparation. Because of these advantages, LIBS can be particularly useful when working with hazardous materials or in harsh environments.

    We work closely with Applied Photonics , who have succesfully used Big Sky Ultra lasers and Quantel Brilliant lasers in their LIBSCAN  and ST-LIBS  systems.

    For more information about the analytical capabilities of LIBS, please visit Applied Photonics LIBS capabilities page . This is an ever-expanding database of information of LIBS data and spectra obtained from each element in the periodic table.

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  6. Alignment

    Description: Alignment of parts or machinery using a laser spot, cross or line

    Recommended Product: Laserex Laser Diode Modules

    Several properties of lasers make them perfect for alignment applications. They emit coherent light that can be well collimated into a straight, continuous, highly visible beam. Wherever high accuracy alignment of a sample, machine part etc is needed, the laser is the perfect tool.

    The addition of a line generating optic will provide a thin light sheet that can further be used for 3D alignment and surface profiling. Below are some examples of were our lasers are used in industrial, automotive and manufacturing environments.


    Polytecappweb

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  7. Understanding Surface Texture Parameters

    Every part’s surface is made up of texture and roughness which varies due to manufacturing techniques and the part structure itself. To understand a component’s surface and to control the manufacturing process to the degree required in today’s modern world, it is necessary to quantify the surface in both two and three dimensions.

    Surface texture parameters can be grouped into these basic categories: Roughness, Waviness, Spacing, and Hybrid.

    Stitched image

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  8. How do Interferometers work?

    An Introduction to Zygo Metrology Solutions for improving product quality and reducing cost

    The Zygo Metrology Group at Lambda Photometrics delivers precision industrial metrology solutions for QA and Statistical Process Control in manufacturing to help reduce the cost of defects and ensure your customers receive the best possible engineered components. Non-contact metrology from Zygo for manufacturing and R&D provides you with the tools to do the job quickly and effectively whilst providing the flexibility to adapt to your needs as your customers demands change. At Lambda Photometrics we recognise that our customers are faced with growing pressure to improve the surface form, finish and performance of components they manufacture and we have developed leading edge metrology solutions to help deliver such capabilities to you. Our high speed and precision metrology tools are capable of measuring: 3D surface profiles, roughness, texture and machining marks, step height, features, cone angles, wear volume, flatness, surface form, radius of curvature and many other parameters associated with precision engineered components, optics and MEMS (micro-electro-mechanical systems).

    A wide range of industry sectors including automotive, medical, optics, IT, semiconductor, aerospace and precision engineering have benefited from working with Lambda Photometrics:

  9. Improved component quality
  10. Reduced waste
  11. Reputation for performance and quality from 1000’s of installed units worldwide
  12. Established over 35 years with experience to match
  13. Manufacturing and R&D metrology solutions tailored to your needs
  14. Installation and support on site
  15. Training to ensure you get the most from your metrology tool
  16. Measurement service for smaller runs of components or R&D
  17. If you have a pressing metrology issue and would like to know if we can help, try us out and send us a component sample to be measured, for more details see our sample measurement programme

    What we measure

    Precision metrology for a wide range of surfaces and in some cases films encountered in engineering and science. Our solutions allow surface profiles, form, flatness, waviness, texture, roughness, machining marks, material features and finish to be measured using high speed non-contact imaging technology. This delivers:

     

    • Non-contact measurement of complete surfaces in 3D not just point samples or a line profile but height information across a whole 2D image so you do not miss a thing
    • Powerful process software with easy to use interface allows you to extract familiar data such as 2D profiles at will and in any orientation
    • Capture data at far higher speeds than can be achieved with contact methods such as CMM or stylus profilers. Up to a million data points can be captured in seconds
    • To rapidly take the 3D data captured and allow comparison with conventional contact metrology
    • Offer far higher precision particularly in the height dimension than can be achieved with conventional metrology tools, typically down to 0.1nm
    • Allow complex image processing of data to perform sophisticated QA measurements or extract specific quantitative data from the measurement e.g wear volume
    • Automate the process to reduce or eliminate operator intervention
    • Provide rapid measurement of serial components for factory floor 100% inspection

     

    Typical measurements:

     

    • Surface form and profile
    • Departure from spherical and planar form
    • Flatness
    • Radius of curvature measurement for concave and convex surfaces
    • Volumetric wear
    • Surface features and machining marks
    • Roughness and a wide range of texture measurements for surfaces including Ra, Rpm, Rz (conforms to new ISO standards). For a full list of measurements download this document Texture
    • Waviness and a wide range of parameters user selectable through filters
    • Cone angle and recessed features
    • Step height and multiple surfaces
    • Thin and thick films

     

    Traceability to certified standards

    Our metrology tools provide unrivalled performance that is traceable to certified standards to ensure you achieve the highest accuracy, reproductibility and repeatability in your application. For more details download this document standards measurement.

    IndustryTypical Application
    AutomotiveTest inspection of diesel injectors & valve seats
    Data StorageMeasurement of magnetic read/write heads for hard disk drives
    Dynamic MEMSMeasure motion, displacement & key device parameters
    MedicalMeasure surface roughness and wear patterns of orthopedic implants
    OpticsFlatness measurement of ultra-precision optics
    PharmaceuticalQA of pill & capsual surfaces
    SemiconductorMeasurement of semiconductor package interconnects, solder bumps and micro vias


    Other typical applications include:

    Orthopaedic implants

  18. Measurement of radius of curvature
  19. Roughness and other texture parameters
  20. Machining and wear marks
  21. Wear volume
  22. Contact Lenses

  23. Surface form
  24. Radius of curvature
  25. Roughness
  26. Diesel Injectors

  27. Flatness
  28. Roughness
  29. Multiple surfaces and step heights
  30. Feature dimensions
  31. Cone angles
  32. Recessed features
  33. MEMS - Micro Electro Mechanical Systems

  34. Deflection & Dynamic measurement
  35. Roughness
  36. Flatness
  37. Step heights
  38. Multiple surfaces
  39. Film thickness
  40. Data storage

  41. Surface quality and defects
  42. Flatness
  43. Runout
  44. The tools we use

    The GPI, is a Fizeau type interferometer system coupled to an electronic camera and computer system for control and image processing.

     

    • Non-contact high speed imaging metrology tool
    • Surface form, flatness and measurement of spherical components (both convex and concave)
    • Measures deviation from form of a complete surface area typically from several sq cm to hundreds of sq cm in seconds
    • Measurement is guaranteed to better than λ/10 (63nm) across the whole viewing aperture of the instrument, the resolution of the instrument is far higher. Higher performance to better than λ/100 (6.3nm)has been demonstrated in some applications
    • Radius of curvature of both convex and concave components to several microns
    • Simple user interface for fast and easy measurement even by unskilled operators
    • Can be automated and placed in protective housing for production and shop floor environments
    • Built in environmental noise monitoring

     

    The NewView, a scanning white light interferometer system incorporating a microscope objective lens, led light source, electronic camera and computer system for control and image processing

     

    • Non-contact imaging metrology tool, captures up to a million 3D surface data points at high speed
    • Measures roughness, texture, flatness, surface height, feature dimensions and thin films with unprecedented performance over conventional metrology tools
    • Wide range of built in Roughness parameters from Ra to Rz and other texture parameters
    • Typically measures sub sq mm to several sq cm
    • Repeatable surface height measurement to 0.1nm
    • Ability to measure film thickness, typically from 1 to 75 microns
    • Wide range of accessories that also allow measurement of difficult recessed or concave components and features (using super long working distance objectives)
    • Simple user interface embedded with powerful metrology applications for rapid and easy measurement
    • Can be automated and placed in dedicated protective enclosure for application on factory and shop floor environments
    • Built in environmental noise monitoring

     

    How they work

    There are two components to the metrology tools we provide, the hardware, comprising the instrument with PC and frame grabber and the software that controls and processes the data from the system. The combination of hardware and software provides fast and powerful metrology tools that deliver automated measurement solutions for QA and R&D in a fast and flexible way.

    We use and supply two key instruments, the GPI and the NewView, for surface and profile measurement both driven by a common software package known as MetroPro. Both instruments are non-contact interferometric imagers that provide a 3D image of a surface to a very high degree of precision and with very high speed compared with conventional mechanical systems. Both provide a snap shot of the surface which when processed by the software allows you to extract a wide variety of parameters about a surface including making comparison with conventional measurement techniques. In the case of manufacturing this allows for automation and 100% inspection of components. For R&D the fast turnaround coupled to an easy to use interface makes productivity and metrology fast and accurate and with a precision far above mechanical methods this allows you to explore future capabilities and options.

    The GPI interferometer comprises a laser light source, optics for focussing, expanding and collimating the beam and a camera for recording interference fringes. The GPI can be used for measuring flatness using a precision Transmission Flat or spherical surfaces using a Transmission Sphere, in this particular example we shall consider the measurement of a spherical surface. The Transmission Sphere used for this measurement is a focussing lens taking the collimated (flat wavefront) laser beam and focussing it into spherical waves that converge onto the part to be measured. The transmission sphere is a precisely formed system of optics that for most applications can be considered to generate a perfect spherical light wave converging on the part under measurement.

    GPI Basic Operation

    Some of the collimated light on striking the curved surface of the transmission sphere (a glass/air interface) is reflected back into the instrument to create a reference beam of light. In this example a spherical sample has been placed in proximity to the Transmission Sphere such that the spherical wavefronts impinging on the surface strike the surface at a normal and hence the light is reflected back along its original path and into the instrument. The reflected light from the part under measurement and the reference beam are combined to create an interference pattern that is detected by the camera.

    During a measurement the Transmission Sphere is translated linearly along the optical axis with a piezo electric device to create a moving fringe pattern that is interpreted by the computer system to show the deviation of the part under test from an almost perfect sphere. The system displays these departures from spherical form using a colour coded image plot and also an oblique surface form plot, click here for examples of a spherical hip socket. The same principles can also be applied to the measurement of flat surfaces using a Transmission Flat as the reference.

    The NewView scanning white light interferometer has similar elements and operation to the GPI. It employs optics in the form of a modified microscope objective, a light source, in this case an incoherent broadband LED light source is split at the objective so that some of the light passes to a reference mirror and some is focussed onto the surface of the sample under measurement. Light from the mirror and the sample surface are reflected back into the instrument and imaged onto a camera. If the distance from the light splitter to the mirror and from the splitter to the surface are equidistant so that there is no optical path difference (OPD) then the camera will observe an interference pattern. This occurs when the objective is held so that the focal plane of the objective lies in the same plane as the surface.

    NewView Basic Operation

    In order to perform a measurement of the surface observed by the field of view of the objective, the objective lens is translated vertically and linearly so that the focal plane moves through the entire height range of the surface being measured. As it does so the interference fringes will move and follow the height profile of the surface and this information is processed by the instrument to calculate the height profile to a very high precision. If we take the simple example of a spherical surface and the objective moving downwards then the interference fringes will appear as a small set of concentric circles emanating from the top of the sphere as the focal plane of the objective intersects it.

    The concentric fringes will then grow larger as the focal plane moves and intersects the sphere lower down. The NewView is able to measure and view an image field dictated by the field of view of the objective lens, for example a 10x objective with a resolution of 1.18 microns is able to observe an area of 1.1mmx1.1mm. As with the GPI the MetroPro software processes the interference data to create a colour coded height profile of the surface under measurement, click her for an example, To measure larger areas there is a facility on the NewView to stitch image fields together. A motor driven stage allows the system to move the surface under inspection a step at a time and in raster fashion to allow relatively large planar surfaces to be measured.

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