CMOS and CoaXPress are in the Mainstream of Machine Vision as seen at the Vision Show Boston 2012

At the Vision Show in Boston 2012 last week, the predominant trends were a huge increase in CMOS cameras and a widespread adoption of CoaXPress.

CMOS

The use of CMOS image sensors in cameras for machine vision has continued to increase.  Many existing camera suppliers have added more CMOS cameras to their offerings and several new suppliers displayed CMOS-based products as well.  The frame speed advantages of CMOS allows for very high resolutions, even 25 Megapixels, to be useful in speed demanding machine vision applications.

Adimec demonstrated our latest Sapphire camera which offers 25 Megapixels at 32 fps in Camera Link Deca configuration:

CoaXPress

CoaXPress has matured rapidly over the last year.  At the show, Version 1.1 of the standard has been discussed, targeting a release update around Vision Stuttgart later this year.  Some of the most notable changes in the new release is the multi-way connectivity and a new connector type. The DIN 1.0/2.3 latest generation connector supports compact single and multi lane coax connections in a diversity of connector housings with locking mechanism.  Angled connectors are also an option. 

CoaXPress was everywhere at the show with more than six camera manufacturers including Adimec and more than six frame grabber manufacturers including Active Silicon, Matrox, Bitflow and Silicon Software demonstrating products in their booths.

Dual CoaXpress

The Adimec Quartz Q-4A180/CXP utilizes dual CoaXPress to achieve the full frame rate of 180 fps for 4 Megapixels or 2 Megapixels at 340 fps.  The dual CoaXPress interface of the Q-4A180/CXP camera supports the CXP-5 and CXP-6 configurations of the standard. It allows the use of two standard coaxial cables, each with a maximum transmission rate of 5 Gbps over 60 meters.  The CoaXPress standard also supports power over cable, saving additional costs. 

See a demonstration of this camera in action: