VisionGauge^® OnLine

Latest Enhancements

We are continuously working to improve VisionGauge^® OnLine. Here is an overview of the main improvements and new features that have recently been added to VisionGauge^® OnLine:

Added in version 5.19 (dated October 23^rd 2007):

• We've add a Live Image Overlay Tool to VisionGauge(r) OnLine. VisionGauge® OnLine’s Live Image Overlay tool allows you to superimpose drawings and various geometric elements over your cameras live video stream. VisionGauge® OnLine’s Live Image Overlay tool is the ultimate “digital video comparator”.

VisionGauge® OnLine’s Live Image Overlay tool includes a Live Image Overlay Builder that allows you to create drawings as well as a wide range of geometric constructs (i.e. lines, crosshairs, bulls-eyes as well as calibrated grids, circles and angles, etc…). VisionGauge® OnLine’s Live Image Overlay Builder supports multi-colored live image overlays and is perfectly suited for a wide range of part alignment and tolerance verification applications.

VisionGauge® OnLine’s Live Image Overlay tool also supports DXF-format CAD files. When you read a DXF file into the Live Image Overlay Builder, VisionGauge® OnLine can automatically scale the drawing to match up with the system optical calibration. This means that if the item measures one inch in the CAD drawing, it will appear on the screen as a one-inch object under the camera. VisionGauge® OnLine also supports a number of other scaling and drawing offset settings. This is the perfect tool to use when comparing a part against its CAD drawing: VisionGauge® OnLine scales the CAD drawing appropriately and draws it “on top of the part”! VisionGauge® OnLine’s Live Image Overlay Builder with DXF-format CAD file support allows you to quickly and accurately determine how well a part matches up with its CAD file definition.

• In the “Settings | Image display settings” menu option, we added the ability to display the image in either 1:3 or 1:5 resolution (along with the previous 1:1, 1:2 and 1:4 image display resolutions)

• We’ve updated the drivers’ library for the hardware security key (to support all of the most recent computers and operating systems).

• Enhanced support for Galil DMC motion controller

• We’ve added a units string to the output file of Data Groups with numerical values.

• We’ve added new extended automated LASER Profiling measurement tools in VisionGauge® OnLine, to automatically carry out fast & accurate 3D measurements.

  
  With VisionGauge® OnLine LASER profiling measurement tools, Z-axis measurements can typically be carried out with the same speed as regular (X,Y) measurements. 

  VisionGauge® OnLine’s LASER profiling tools have no a priori restrictions regarding the part geometry and they can deal with a wide range of 3D geometries.

• This version of VisionGauge(r) OnLine contains generalized performance enhancements. These global optimizations produce performance gains in all of VisionGauge(r) OnLine's tools, with the most CPU-intensive tools reaping the greatest benefit from these generalized enhancements. The following chart shows  results for various tools, in representative test cases:

• In the Program Toolbox's "Image Capture" tool, when you specify that you want to read in images from a sequence, you can indicate that the sequence is finite and you can specify the last number in the sequence, i.e.:

When VisionGauge® OnLine reaches the last number in the sequence it then "resets" its internal counter to the "First number in the sequence".
 

• We've improved performance for "concurrent calculations" (i.e. simultaneous motion & image analysis)...

• We've added support for the Galil servo motor controller.

• We've enhanced the "Timer Tool" (accessed through the "Tools | Timer..." menu option) so that the "Latest time (s)" (i.e. the most recent time interval) is also displayed.

• We've added an option to automatically save the contents of a data group to file in the Program Toolbox's "Statistics & Data Groups" tool. Note that if this file already exists when the tool is run, its contents will be overwritten.

• In the Program Toolbox's "Motion Control" tool, we've added the ability to "Register using a Datum". This allows you to carry out translation registration (i.e. to correct for translation error, but not for rotation). 

  
  This tool is very simple to use. When you setup a program, include a pattern matching operation (either Correlation-Based or Feature-Based Pattern Matching) and save the pattern location as a Datum (for example: save it as Datum #1). When you do this, make sure that the stage coordinates are correct (i.e. makes sure that the part has been registered with either the "Set Zero" or "Set" tools in the Motion Toolbox).

  Then, after the Pattern Matching operation, include a "Motion Control" operation in your program and indicate that you wish to "Register using Datum #1".

  When you run the program, the Pattern Matching tool will find the pattern and save its location as Datum #1. The Motion Control operation will then correct the stage position so that the datum (i.e. the pattern) is at the same coordinates as when you setup the program.

  This is a way to automatically carry out translation registration that is fast, accurate and simple.

• We've added support for the Sony XCI-SV1 Smart Camera.

• We've added a "Home All" button in the motion toolbox, as well as a "home polarity" option (for each axis in the motion control config DB). Note that the stage position is set to 0 once the stage reaches the limits of travel in the specified direction...

• We've added a "Home" option in the Program Toolbox's "Motion Control" tool. Note that the axis position is set to "0" at the end of the operation...
• In the manual Counting & Sizing tool, we've added extra settings that allow you to carry out "object disconnect" as well as "object-reconnect" calculations. These are in fact what are referred to as "erosion" and "dilation" calculations in image processing. You can also specify the "disconnect factor" (in pixels), which is in fact the size of the neighborhood to consider. So, for example, a disconnect factor of 1 corresponds to a neighborhood of 3 pixels (i.e. plus or minus one pixel on each side).

• We've carried out similar enhancements in the Program Toolbox's "Counting & Sizing" tool (i.e. for "automated" Counting & Sizing operations...).

• We've also added "Current" values in the Program Toolbox's "Counting & Sizing" tool (i.e. the current values are displayed while you're setting up the tool).
• We've added the ability to auto-load a program on startup... (through the Program Toolbox's "Settings" menu command.

• We've added support for user-defined strings. A string can be captured from the use in the "Wait" instruction and the string can be used as a filename in the "Statistics and Data Groups" tool...
• We've added support for the Sony XCI-V3 Smart Camera.

• We have added a "Step" button to the Program Toolbox, i.e.:

• You can now change the current illumination settings directly from within the Program Toolbox's "Set Illumination" window.

• The Settings Toolbox has been enhanced to support up to 8 light sources.

• We've added support for up to 8 programmable, computer-controlled light sources when used in conjunction with the multi-function board.

• We've added a "Send Camera Command String" tool in the Program Toolbox. You can use this new tool to send a serial port command to the camera during a program?s execution. You can also specify a delay between the send and receive operations. The camera reply string is displayed in the status box at the bottom of the main VisionGauge® OnLine window.

• We've added an "Image Acquisition Hardware" dialog box to the View sub-menu...

• We've added "Image Capture" options to the Program Toolbox's Options window (i.e. "Use most recent image available when command is given" and "Start capture when command is given..."). Also: "Settings" button to specify the exposure time & frame time...
• We've added a "Registration" tool in the following windows in the Program Toolbox:  
  The Counting & Sizing window. 
  The Color Verification window.
  The Measurement window.
  The Optical Character Recognition (OCR) window.
  The Correlation-Based Pattern Matching window.
  The Feature-Based Pattern Matching window.
  The Counting & Sizing window.

  This new "Registration" tool allows you to carry out either translation-only or translation-and-rotation correction, based on the displacement of a datum point.

• We've carried out performance enhancements to the Feature-based pattern matching tool (by carrying out more extensive pre-computations, among other things). Also, we've added a new demo program (called "FeatureBased_PatternMatching2.prg") to demonstrate the use of this tool.

• We've improved the performance of the Correlation-based pattern matching tool (by carrying out more extensive pre-computations).

• We've added a "Manual Assist on Fail" enhancement in both the Correlation-Based Pattern Matching and the Feature-Based Pattern Matching tools.

  
  To activate this tool, simply check the "Manual Assist on Fail" checkbox in either Pattern Matching tool. When this is the case and the result of a Pattern Matching operation is "Fail", the following occurs:
   

  • The program's execution is stopped and a "Manual Assist" window is displayed. 
    Note that the size of this window automatically increases, if the pattern image is very large.
  Also, note that the pattern image in this window is displayed in the same way as the main image in the main window (i.e. the display settings set through the main window's "Settings | Image Display Settings" menu command are applied in the same way in both cases).
  • In the main image, VisionGauge® OnLine displays, using a rectangular box, the location of the pattern that it found. The corresponding X and Y positions (in pixels) are also displayed in the "Manual Assist" window. Also, the Correlation Coefficient is displayed in the "Manual Assist" window.
  • The user can the move the mouse across the main image and a crosshair (with the same width & height as the pattern image) "follows" the mouse pointer. When the user clicks the left mouse button, the "rectangular box" is displayed at this new location, the X and Y pixel position values are updated and the value of the Correlation Coefficient at this new location is also displayed.
  • The user can repeat this operation as often as he likes. 
  • When he is satisfied with everything, he simply clicks the Manual Assist Window's "OK" button and the updated values are applied. Also, if the user clicks "Cancel" then whatever the user did is disregarded and the Program's execution is terminated.
  • Note also that there is a "Set Pattern Matching result to PASS" checkbox that lets the user override the initial "Fail" result (regardless of the new Correlation Coefficient value).

  Also, note that:

  • The user can locate the pattern anywhere on the image (not only within this step's Pattern Matching ROI)
  • If the user presses the Program Toolbox's "Stop" button while the Manual Assist tool is active, the program is immediately terminated and the "Manual Assist" window is closed.

• We've added an option to "Clear Offsets" in the Program Toolbox's Motion Control tool.

• We've enhanced the Program Toolbox's "Jump" tool so that it is now possible to jump either to a relative or an absolute position in a program.
• We have added support for the latest PIXCI framegrabber drivers.

• We've enhanced VisionGauge® OnLine and adjusted the initial image size so that it matches up with the initial image display settings. This way, the initial "startup" image always looks properly sized...

Click on this link to see a list of previous enhancements...