In praise of monitors

Many smart cameras and vision sensors are designed to run headless. In other words, they stand guard over production like a silent sentinel, ejecting nonconforming product whenever they see it. Or at least that’s the idea.

But how do you know the darned thing is actually working? Yes I know your quality system requires an hourly check, but even with that isn’t it nice to see what your camera is seeing? Having a monitor set up on the line lets me see that the camera is alive and kicking. I want to walk past and know that the parts are still in the field of view, the lights are on, and the system is not in ‘bypass’ mode.

Banner and Keyence let you hook up a simple monitor to the camera. I wish other companies would do the same.