The Inspector PI50 is a powerful vision sensor that opens up applications involving the determination of position or the inspection of objects. The Inspector PI50’s compact housing with integrated LED annular illumination, its high precision and particularly easy integration in new plants (or for retrofitting in older plants) open up areas of use in which conventional vision sensors cannot cope with the complexity of the task, and smart cameras or classic image-processing systems are too costly.
New tools for inspection and positioning
The Inspector PI50 also offers the proven inspection tools of the rest of the Inspector product family: the object finder, pixel counter, edge pixel counter, pattern detection. The so-called ‘polygon tool’ is a new addition that permits the detection of corner and edge positions, as well as inspection and assessment of the edge itself (e.g. for detecting cracked edges). In addition, expanded tools allow highly accurate position determination of taught-in and ‘free-form’ objects (so-called Binary Large Objects, BLOBs). The image calibration that is also integrated as a tool allows the generation of object position coordinates in millimeters – ideal for the visual guidance of handling machines or robots. Moreover, any tilting of the sensor in a sloping installation, or distortion of the image (e.g. when using a lens with a short focal length), can be offset so that robust inspection and measurement results can be obtained.
User-friendly interfaces, flexible machine integration
The Inspector PI50 is an easily understood vision sensor designed for industrial use and offering simple integration. No in-depth knowledge is required by OEMs or end-users – a simple, menu-guided configuration is all that is needed. A variety of user interfaces is available, depending on the desired type of operation: SOPAS (the basic tool for configuration, monitoring, trend determination and offline operation), the Inspector Viewer – a monitor for direct observation and batch changes in production – and an integrated Web Server for observation, monitoring and administration with a standard web browser, e.g. Microsoft Internet Explorer or Firefox.
The Inspector PI50 is also ideal when flexible machine integration is required. Here, too, the connectivity options can be adapted to meet requirements. Digital inputs and outputs (expandable if necessary) allow simple batch changes, triggering of image capture, the output of states (such as OK / detail fault / not found), ejection control via an encoder input, and the output of individual inspection results. Ethernet/IP and TCP/IP or UDP/IP are used for expanded device control and machine integration, e.g. for specific trend determinations or for modifying parameters. The Web API offers numerous possibilities for the design of individual human-machine interfaces, e.g. for customer-specific displays, parameterization or maintenance requirements.
Optimum results in all tasks and under all conditions.
As with all vision sensors of the Inspector product family, a variety of lenses, color filters and light transmitters are also available for the Inspector PI50. Thus the Inspector PI50 IR has infrared annular illumination for reliable operation in varying ambient light, or for highly colored or high-contrast surfaces.
The Inspector PI50 – the vision sensor that sets a new standard through its variety of applications, user-friendliness and flexible integration.