National Instruments (Nasdaq: NATI) today announced the release of a new embedded vision system that gives manufacturing engineers and system integrators the ability to build high-speed real-time machine vision systems for applications such as sorting products, verifying assembly and inspecting packaging. The NI EVS-1464RT Embedded Vision System is a high-performance, multicore controller capable of processing images from multiple IEEE 1394 and GigE Vision cameras. Additionally, the EVS- 1464RT features an extended temperature range, a real-time operating system, a solidstate hard drive and a fanless design, making it ideal for use in harsh industrial environments.
‘‘In our industrial inspection machines, we prefer embedded devices with real-time operating systems because they are dependable and often do not require IT department intervention,’’ said Ivan Meissner, general manager of Qualimatest Technologies. ‘‘By standardizing on the NI Embedded Vision System, we are able to achieve the multicore performance of an industrial PC with the reliability and security of a real-time embedded system.’’
The EVS-1464RT features a variety of camera connectivity options so engineers can use many different types of cameras to perform simultaneous inspections ranging from high-resolution area scan to high-speed line scan and from color to infrared. The EVS-1464RT also includes a wide range of digital I/O and industrial communication options that make it possible for the system to communicate and integrate with automation devices such as programmable automation controllers, programmable logic controllers, human machine interfaces, sensors and actuators to perform faster inspections.
The EVS-1464RT can be configured with NI Vision Builder for Automated Inspection (AI), an interactive software environment for building, benchmarking and deploying machine vision applications without programming. With this intuitive, menu-driven software, engineers can build complex machine vision applications that not only incorporate image processing algorithms but also advanced decision making with looping and branching using the built-in state diagram editor. For more advanced applications, the EVS-1464RT also can integrate with NI LabVIEW graphical system design software and the NI Vision Development Module, which is the comprehensive library of image processing functions. Because both software packages work with all NI vision hardware, engineers easily can manage and maintain multiple hardware systems, choose the appropriate hardware for new applications and switch between both software options with minimal effort.
Readers can view the white paper ‘‘What Is the NI Embedded Vision System?’’ in the NI Developer Zone at www.ni.com/devzone to learn more about the EVS-1464RT. Readers also can visit www.ni.com/vision to learn more about NI vision hardware and software products.