Presence Sensor analyzes 400 images/second.
Press Release Summary:
Checker(TM) 101 visually detects presence of items during manufacturing process. Design provides illumination, optics, sensor, processor, memory, and I/O, all fully integrated in single industrial-grade package. Since Checker automatically detects when product is ready to be inspected, it does not require external trigger, even for products in continuous motion at high speed.
Original Press Release:
Cognex Introduces Checker - A Breakthrough in Presence Sensing
Cognex recently introduced Checker(TM) 101 at the PackExpo tradeshow in Chicago, IL. Checker 101 is a simple-to-use and inexpensive sensor that can visually detect the presence of items during the manufacturing process.
Checker 101 is the first member of the new Cognex Checker family of vision sensors. Unlike multi-purpose vision systems that can be programmed to perform a wide variety of tasks, each model in the Checker family will do only one thing, but it will do it extraordinarily fast and well. Checker 101 was designed from the ground up to be far simpler to use than any vision system... so simple that even first-time users will have it up and running in a matter of minutes. And, because of its ease of use and low price, engineers, technicians and electricians will find Checker an attractive tool for solving many manufacturing problems that they previously solved... or tried to solve... with photoelectric sensors or other similar devices.
Checker 101 has a significant price/performance advantage over other means of presence sensing. Cognex believes that Checker's ease of use and low cost will make the saying, 'Check it with Checker,' a commonly heard expression on the factory floor.
Checking for the presence or absence of multiple items... such as the cap and the label on a bottle, or all of the lugs on a truck wheel, or all of the tablets in a blister pack... is one of the most common tasks in manufacturing. To ensure product quality in applications such as these, most manufacturers currently use either a complex system of multiple photoelectric sensors, or they rely on people to perform inspections. Now, with Checker, manufacturers will be able to easily and cost-effectively inspect 100% of their products at each stage of production. And, because Checker can analyze over 400 images each second, it can keep up with even the fastest manufacturing operations.
Checker's compact design provides illumination, optics, sensor, processor, memory and I/O, all fully integrated in a single industrial-grade package about the size of a cell phone. In addition, unique, patent-pending technology enables Checker to automatically detect when a product is ready to be inspected; because of that, it doesn't require an external trigger, even for products in continuous motion at high speed, as do all other vision sensors and systems.
Cognex plans to begin shipping Checker 101 in Q1 of 2005.
