Where do you go for help?

If you’re the only one in the plant charged with maintaining the vision systems (a not uncommon situation) where do you go to get help? In my experience the guy you bought the system from has only limited knowledge, especially if we’re talking about a “smart camera” system, so oftentimes you’re on your own.

Let me make some suggestions:

If you’re using a DVT or Cognex Insight product, and you’ve exhausted the Knowledge Base, the Smartlist is a good place to post questions. One downside to this is that it’s not possible to search on previous questions and responses. (It would be really helpful if Cognex could turn this into a more standard discussion forum.)

If you’re using NI LabVIEW, they have a good discussion forum, although it’s a little tricky to find on their website. This link should help: http://forums.ni.com/ni/board?board.id=200

The Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) hosts a vision discussion forum. Unfortunately it’s not well used, (although you could change that,) but it is a good place to ask more general questions. Access it here.

I’m not aware of any other vendors providing or facilitating discussion boards but if you know of any please don’t be shy about sharing it with us.

Bear in mind that while most people are friendly, and eager to show off their expertise, on the vendor sites they will only advise on problems specific to their products. (Don’t ask about a Banner system on the Cognex web site!) Also, when posting, try to share as much information as possible about what you’re doing and the nature of your problem.

And lastly, once you’ve had your problem resolved, don’t forget to stick around and help others with theirs!