More smart camera options

If like me, you’re not feeling the love from the nice people in Natick, you could do a lot worse than explore what Dalsa – sorry, Teledyne Dalsa – has to offer.

The BOA smart cameras have been around for a while, and although I have no hands-on experience, they appear a pretty competitive offering. But I noticed earlier this week that there is now a BOA camera that will run Sherlock.

This is a big deal. Sherlock is one of those machine vision software products that many of us cut our teeth on. It’s been around forever, it’s straightforward to use, and it works. So bundling it with the BOA Pro smart camera should make for a very attractive product.

Who needs to feel the love now?

More smart camera options

If like me, you’re not feeling the love from the nice people in Natick, you could do a lot worse than explore what Dalsa – sorry, Teledyne Dalsa – has to offer.

The BOA smart cameras have been around for a while, and although I have no hands-on experience, they appear a pretty competitive offering. But I noticed earlier this week that there is now a BOA camera that will run Sherlock.

This is a big deal. Sherlock is one of those machine vision software products that many of us cut our teeth on. It’s been around forever, it’s straightforward to use, and it works. So bundling it with the BOA Pro smart camera should make for a very attractive product.

Who needs to feel the love now?

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!