VISION GUIDED ROBOTICS

RELIABLE LOCATION AND EASY INTEGRATION

Part Location
VGR performance is significantly limited when a vision sensor can’t
provide repeatable part location because of variations in part
appearance due to orientation, size, contrast, lighting, overlapping
parts and image focus. Revolutionary PatMax geometric pattern
matching software is available on In-Sight vision sensors to handle
these variations.
PatMax: The performance standard for part and
feature location
■ Eliminates costly precision fixturing
■ Reliably and accurately locates unfixtured parts
■ More reliable and repeatable inspection, measurement,
and part-identification performance

User-Interface Integration
The In-Sight Software Development Kit (SDK) allows robotic system
integrators to leverage their industry and application knowledge to
develop customer or application-specific VGR and robotic inspection
solutions.

The In-Sight SDK allows integrators to:

■ Build HMI/SCADA applications that include an interface for In-Sight
vision sensors
■ Develop custom user interfaces to access spreadsheet cells,
results, images and graphics
■ Seamlessly integrate vision sensors into the vision application
THE RIGHT CHOICE FOR ROBOTIC APPLICATIONS
Guiding robots with machine vision is an enabling technology for
flexible manufacturing, allowing production lines to readily
accommodate product changes. In addition to locating parts for pick-
and-place or guiding a robot to assemble components, machine vision
can also inspect, measure, and read linear barcodes and Data Matrix
codes as products are being handled or assembled. No matter what
the machine vision application, Cognex® offers a complete family of
vision products – from standalone vision sensors to complete PC
vision systems – that provide unparalleled accuracy and repeatability.
Now innovative new products and capabilities from Cognex make
integrating In-Sight® vision sensors into 2D robotic applications faster
and easier than ever.

Vision Guided Robotics (VGR) Benefits

■ Eliminate costly precision fixturing
■ Process various part types without tooling changeover
■ Prevent accidental robot collisions

Industry-leading software for ease-of-use Durable hardware withstands harsh

and reliable performance environments
■ PatMax ® accurately and reliably locates ■ In-Sight 5400R features a compact, remote-head
unfixtured parts camera for end-of-arm mounting in light payload
NEW

applications or wherever space is limited

■ Non-linear calibration improves accuracy
and repeatability by correcting for lens and ■ High-flex cables rated to 10 million linear and
perspective distortion 30,000 torsional cycles
NEW

■ Robot drivers and sample code facilitate ■ A variety of hardware platforms for fixed-mount
integration applications, from the standard In-Sight 5100 to the
1600 x 1200 resolution In-Sight 5403 and the color
■ In-Sight Software Development Kit (SDK)
In-Sight 5400C models
for building customer or application-specific user
interfaces ■ Flexibility to use a wide array of robots
■ World-class vision tools for part identification,
inspection and measurement applications
SIMPLIFIED CALIBRATION AND COMMUNICATION
Vision-to-Robot Calibration
Whether a VGR application involves conveyor tracking for pick-and-place or guiding a robot to assemble components, vision-to-
robot calibration is required to maintain accuracy and repeatability. In-Sight Explorer includes a step-by-step wizard that
facilitates calibration, guiding users through the process of correlating image pixels to robot coordinates.

In-Sight Explorer Calibration Wizard

■ Guides users step-by-step through calibration of the vision-to-robot workspace
■ Improves accuracy and repeatability by correcting for lens and perspective distortion
■ Supports standard Cognex grid-of-dots and checkerboard calibration patterns,
as well as user specified calibration patterns for maximum flexibility
■ Supports multi-pose 2D calibration to optimize system accuracy and enable the use of
a smaller, more manageable calibration plate in large field-of-view applications

Distorted Corrected

The step-by-step In-Sight non-linear calibration minimizes location error by correcting the image for lens and perspective distortion.

Robot Communication
The easier it is to configure seamless communications between
vision sensor and robot controller, the faster the application can be
deployed.

Tight, seamless communication with minimal effort

■ New robot driver and robot sample code support virtually every
robot
■ Easy-to-use string formatter uses point-and-click dialog to
customize vision output data
■ In-Sight Explorer spreadsheet snippets provide fast and easy
communication setup with robot controllers via Ethernet or
serial protocol
 EXTENDED VERSATILITY FOR A RANGE OF APPLICATIONS

Automated Palletizing Component Assembly

Vision guidance provides precise part location to robots in many Components are located, identified, and inspected during the automated
palletizing applications where processing multiple parts and eliminating assembly process, enabling manufacturers to realize cost, quality and
costly precision fixtures are required. throughput improvements.

Conveyor Tracking Robotic Inspection

Location information is provided to a robot picking unfixtured products Equipped with a full range of vision tools for code reading, gauging, and
from a conveyor and placing them into cartons. PatMax technology defect detection, a vision sensor with end-of-arm mounted remote-head
accurately locates objects even when they overlap or if the conveyor camera inspects part features with a high degree of accuracy.
background changes.
 INDUSTRY-LEADING VGR PERFORMANCE
Only Cognex provides a full range of products to address the varied requirements of VGR for today’s manufacturers. Whether
your VGR application involves automated palletizing, inspection, conveyor tracking or assembly, Cognex machine vision can
improve your manufacturing flexibility, throughput, and reduce production costs. From standalone vision sensors, to complete
PC-vision systems, you’re assured of a solution that is suited to your application as well as your budget.
General Purpose Vision Sensors
In-Sight is the only family of vision sensors available today that provides industrial-grade
features as standard. The In-Sight 5100 and 5400 deliver high-speed image acquisition,
processing and a library of powerful vision tools that assure reliable, repeatable performance
in the most challenging robotic inspection and guidance applications.
Color & High-Resolution Vision Sensors
In-Sight vision sensors are also available in color and high-resolution models.
In-Sight 5400C - Designed to perform a wide range of color inspection tasks
In-Sight 5401 - High resolution (1024 x 768)
In-Sight 5403 - Highest resolution (1600 x 1200)

Remote Head Vision Sensor

The In-Sight 5400R features a compact, remote-head camera for end-of-arm mounting in
light payload applications or wherever space is limited.

- Smallest size available - Cables rated to 10 million linear/30,000 torsional cycles

- Lightweight (2.5 oz.) - 90 and 180 degree cable connectors

Breakthrough Code Reading

In-Sight provides unmatched code reading performance for industrial identification in many
industries that require high-speed 1D and 2D decoding of printed and direct part mark codes.
In-Sight incorporates IDMax™, which handles a wide range of degradations to the appearance
of the codes, allowing In-Sight to deliver the industry’s best reading performance.
PC Vision Systems
Vision guided robotics is also available with Cognex VisionPro® PC-based vision systems. With
VisionPro, customers can maintain the power and flexibility of a fully programmable PC vision
system, yet significantly reduce setup time and development cost. VisionPro provides a vision
development environment with something for everyone…interactive drag and drop, .NET
scripting, and a full programming toolkit. PC Vision makes it easier than ever to build tightly
integrated solutions for the most challenging 2D and 3D VGR applications.
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www.cognex.com
© Copyright 2006, Cognex Corporation. All information in this document is subject to change without notice. Cognex, In-Sight, PatMax, and VisionPro are registered trademarks of Cognex Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective
owners. Robot photos used with permission of Alpsitec, DENSO Robotics, Mitsubishi Electric, Radix Controls Inc., Staubli Robotics, The Meister Group and Trevor Booth Photography. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA. Lit #MK 6299-0606