When it comes to lighting options, the machine vision market is already spoiled for choice. Nevertheless, automation specialist B&R chose to launch its own portfolio of integrated lighting. B&R's machine vision expert, Andreas Waldl, explains why this was the only right choice and sheds light on the topic of integration.

Let's be honest: Is it really necessary for an automation supplier to have its own lighting system?

Andreas Waldl: If you'd asked me that ten years ago, I'm sure I would have said no. But, after a decade of working with machine vision, I've come to a very different conclusion: Many of the tasks we want modern machines to perform can only be done when the vision system and the rest of the machine automation come from a single source.

That explains why B&R developed its own cameras, but what about the lighting?

Waldl: When it comes to the quality of the captured images, the lighting is actually even more important than the camera. Ultimately, the success or failure of a given machine vision application comes down to the timing, intensity and homogeneity of the flash. That's why we need an integrated lighting system.

What do you mean by 'integrated' in this context?

Waldl: Let's look at a conventional light. In most cases, there is only one way to control it: with a digital trigger input. Some lights also have a potentiometer to manually adjust the intensity. Sure, there are applications where that's enough. But when things are moving faster and the products being manufactured change more frequently...

"Our system opens up far more possibilities than a conventional flash controller," says Andreas Waldl, product manager for integrated vision at B&R.

… you need integrated lighting.

Waldl: Exactly. Because an integrated light gets more information from the control system. First of all, you get extremely precise flash timing – with our system under a millisecond. But also information like what color and intensity are needed to capture the respective product. If you needed, our lights could use different parameters for every single image – without slowing down production at all. I know of no other lighting system on the market with such flexibility and precision.

If B&R's lights offer so many possibilities, does that mean they are complicated to use?

Waldl: No, and that's another benefit of tight integration. Since all the variables from the control system are also available for vision functions, we're able to offer our customers a whole array of functions they can use right in their familiar engineering environment. All they have to do is pick the components they need and then configure them.

Users can configure machine vision lighting and cameras right in Automation Studio.

It sounds like all these advantages are only available with a B&R camera – is that right?

Waldl: Not entirely. It is true that our cameras, lights and machine controllers complement each other perfectly. But: many of the advantages are just as applicable with third-party cameras. Our lighting system can even make up for some of the weaknesses of other camera systems. Because of the sensors they use, most cameras have so much jitter that it's impossible to synchronize them properly with the movement of the machine's axes. It's an easy enough problem to solve, however: Our lights flash with a precision and a minimal pulse duration of one microsecond. One of our customers takes advantage of that to get sharp images of products moving at a speed of 50 meters per second.

When would it make sense to combine B&R lights and third-party cameras?

Waldl: System integrators often have to balance a complex set of requirements. Yet, even if they need to use a specific camera system for a certain task, they're still able use our lighting system. They can simply use one of our standard interface modules to connect one or more B&R lights to their machine network.

Each B&R light can feature up to four different LED colors.

Doesn't that work with other external flash controllers?

Waldl: Our system can do a whole lot more than a conventional flash controller, which can only use hardwired external trigger sources and control a limited number of lights. With B&R, the bandwidth ranges from a single light to a combination of any number of lights, triggered by freely selectable variables and signals. The user can take hardware and software from B&R's standard portfolio and put together a completely flexible control solution with its own web-based user interface. This solution can then be addressed via any communication protocol – including, of course, OPC UA. And the B&R system is already prepared to support the TSN Ethernet extension.

So: cameras, lights and the corresponding software – is the B&R vision portfolio complete?

Waldl: We've got a great starting lineup on the field that's able to provide excellent solutions for a whole lot of applications. But, we have a lot more up our sleeve. We're already working on a number of solutions and products that will be joining the portfolio over the next few years. I can't reveal any details yet, but I can tell you this much: We've begun a very exciting journey and there's no end in sight.

Machine vision by B&R

Machine vision by B&R

B&R has developed a machine vision solution from the ground up as an integral element of its control system. Vision applications can now be implemented faster. For the first time ever, control technology and machine vision come from a single source, significantly reducing overall costs.

The vision solution consists of a lighting system, cameras and intelligent image processing algorithms. Lighting elements are available integrated in the camera or as an external device and are synchronized with image capture.

The unprecedented depth of integration opens up new possibilities that go far beyond quality inspection. Information from the vision system can be fed into control loops in real time to provide advanced machine control. The camera is synchronized with axis movements with microsecond precision.

The B&R lighting portfolio

The B&R lighting portfolio

B&R's lighting portfolio includes flexible light bars, ringlights and backlights. Cameras are available with up to 64 integrated LEDs. Each light has an integrated strobe controller and can feature up to four different LED colors at a time. The selection ranges from white and various visible colors to infrared and ultraviolet. This makes it possible to achieve just the right contrast, color, illumination and intensity for any application.

B&R's flexible light bars feature electronic beam angle adjustment from -40° to +90°. The light bars are also available as pre-assembled ringlights in groups of four, six or eight. Integrated into the machine network via an M12 hybrid connector, which also supplies the necessary 24 VDC power, B&R lighting systems each need only a single cable. A second hybrid connection enables daisy-chain cabling with additional lights or cameras.

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