The composition and characteristics of machine vision smart cameras

          In October 2019, Cognex Corporation, a leader in machine vision and industrial barcode reading, announced the latest version of In-Sight Explorer software that supports the OPC Unified Architecture (OPC UA™) standard . As the premier data exchange protocol for Industry 4.0, OPC UA enables simplified communication and information sharing between In-Sight vision products and other industrial automation assets in smart factories.

With the rapid development of automation, big data and cloud computing, manufacturers need intelligent equipment that supports Industry 4.0. “In-Sight Explorer is the industry standard vision software thanks to its functionality, flexibility and ease of use in deploying and maintaining vision applications,” said Joerg Kuechen, Senior Vice President of Vision Products at Cognex. With enhanced communication capabilities, In-Sight vision systems and sensors will continue to deliver superior speed, performance and efficiency for the smart factories of the future.

  In addition to OPC UA support, Cognex has expanded its communication capabilities for popular PLC brands. For users of Siemens PLCs, In-Sight vision products now support PROFINET® Class B, which integrates Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), making it possible to monitor system network statistics, system settings and network topology using standard SNMP tools. PROFINET conformance classes help companies understand their device and controller options.

  With the release of In-Sight Explorer 5.8.0, In-Sight vision products also support Mitsubishi series PLCs with iQSS functionality. iQ Sensor Solution (iQSS) is an engineering tool that automatically discovers and monitors sensors in a network and manages their configuration. iQSS makes it easy to maintain these configurations across multiple production lines and improves the interaction between sensors, PLCs, HMIs and software, reducing costs and development and maintenance setup time.