Machine vision application

There is as one of my colleagues keeps telling me, more than one way to skin a cat. Of course, he’s using a metaphorical cat – no actual felines were harmed in the writing of this blog post – but his point is a good one: in the world of machine vision applications there is seldom one “right” solution.

To prove the point, here’s an interesting story regarding gauging of electrical connector pins. (“96 Years of Quality” Vision & Sensors magazine, August 31st, 2010.) The task itself is not unusual; it’s really just a case of applying some measurement tools. What’s interesting though is the choice of visionware: a Dalsa IPD “Vision Appliance” GigE cameras and Sherlock software. Clearly a Dalsa salesman or woman has gone home happy!

Why is this interesting? Well simply because it’s a non-obvious choice of vendor. It’s more usual to see this kind of application done with Cognex InSights, or perhaps Banner, Keyence or PPT systems. Perhaps that tells us that Dalsa is increasing its end-user marketing efforts.

And also, if you’re not familiar with Sherlock, I would encourage you to take a look. A lot of vision integrators like the product because it’s very easy to work with, but it’s never really been promoted to end-users. Sherlock and Dalsa together might give some new ideas for skinning that cat!