Cognex Vision Pro Tutorial

[Chiquita Mcnicholas]

The In-Sight 2800 Vision System makes vision automation simple. This fully integrated system combines deep learning technology with rule-based vision tools to solve a wide range of inspection applications. In this tutorial, you'll learn how to train the system and set up an application in minutes.

You described exactly the same problem I have, 45 degrees tilted plane, I am using a UR10 . No matter what changes I do to in the cognex program ,the UR or the installation the results do not have any logic.
I am following this tutorial and it does not show that the tool has to be in the field of view of the tool however the documentation does. Does it?

Thanks a lot!!.This is great documentation!! I am reviewing it right now and see if we can implemented on my end.
when you said at the end that is not perfect are you referring to the documentation or the Vision system results ? We have a very tight tolerance in our application 1 or 1.5 mm tops so I am concern the accuracy of the vision system without the robot calibration.

Since now i only have experience with systems from Keyence, where all components and the software are from them. Mainly we check for position of contact pins (in 2d and 3d) and all sorts of faults for injection moulding parts.

At first this seems pretty easy with keyence but its pretty expensive as well as limiting if you need anything else. With a strong software background its pretty frustrating how limited they are. Also there is not really a possibility for deep learning fault detection.

But how do I even get started? The softwares itself for programming the vision programm seem more flexible and better suited but i have no idea where to start in terms of the following, hardware related, points:

How to deal with these kind of problems for Halcon, cognex and opencv? Which is best suitable for industrial applications? Is there another library which is better suited? Are there any books or blogs for practical applications with these libraries?

I am one of the instructors in the Certified Vision Professional Program from A3 Vision ( -content/certified-vision-professional). My first suggestion would be to look into taking some classes in that program. Machine Vision environments like Keyence, and LabVIEW Vision Builder AI, are cute, fast and so simplistic that they can be quite frustrating. Halcon, Vision Pro, Cognex are all good vision environments, but my experience is limited with those environments. The Matrox MIL library is well respected in the C programming community, however they have been acquired by Zebra Technologies Corporation, and it's hard to say what their future is.

LabVIEW vision has been my primary tool for years, and plays well with PLC, and across a variety of industrial bus topologies. Frequently I will write the vision portion, and subcontract out the interface to a factory network. This reduces my liability and puts that portion in the hands of more skilled individuals (pay the experts).

I cannot recommend NI Vision tools, as it looks like NI is letting that portion of their programming environment slide, and the new subscription service is downright scary. since you could loos access to your source code if you choose not to pay the subscription fee. That said, if you have a permanent LabVIEW professional license with the vision development module, it may do the job. It is not a feature rich as Halcon, but the runtime license is considerably less if you are deploying multiple inspection stations.

Until this Covid thing settles down, the China vision show is not in my future. The next show in the US is October in Boston, MA (Self serving plug, I will be teaching one of the classes at that event).

I will occasionally embed with a customer who wants to develop machine vision applications in their manufacturing environment. We work side by side from the concept to a finished inspection. Over the course of that effort the customer is involved in all aspects of the project, from concept to completion. In they end the customer has first hand knowledge and experience in the process. Look for a supplier that would be willing to work with you along those lines. Kind of a mini apprentice program.

Choosing a PC: When selecting a PC for industrial vision applications, it's important to consider the processing power required for your specific application. The number of cameras and the speed at which the images need to be processed will play a large role in determining the necessary processing power. A high-end industrial PC with a powerful CPU and a dedicated graphics card is often recommended for industrial vision applications.

Real-time behavior: To ensure real-time behavior, you may need to use specialized frame grabbers or image processing hardware, such as FPGA-based or GPU-based systems. Additionally, you should ensure that your PC has enough processing power and memory to handle the image processing tasks in real-time.

Connecting to PLC: To connect your PC to a PLC, you will typically need to use a communication protocol such as EtherCAT or PROFINET. This will require the use of appropriate drivers and software on the PC side, as well as appropriate hardware on the PLC side.

Camera Drivers: To communicate with the cameras, you will need to use the appropriate camera drivers. These drivers are typically provided by the camera manufacturer and will allow you to control the camera settings and acquire images from the camera.

Frame grabber: Frame grabbers are specialized hardware devices that can be used to acquire images from cameras in real-time. They are often used in industrial vision applications where high-speed image acquisition is required.

Halcon, Cognex and OpenCV: Halcon and Cognex Vision Pro are commercial libraries that are specifically designed for industrial vision applications. They provide a wide range of image processing and analysis tools, and are often used in conjunction with specialized hardware such as frame grabbers. OpenCV is an open-source library that can also be used for industrial vision applications, but it may require more programming and development effort.

Suitable library: The best library for industrial applications will depend on your specific needs and requirements. Halcon and Cognex Vision Pro are well-suited for industrial applications and have a wide range of tools for image processing and analysis. OpenCV can also be used for industrial applications, but it may require more programming and development effort.

Books and Blogs: There are many books and blogs available that cover practical applications of Halcon, Cognex and OpenCV. You can check the official website of the libraries and check the documentation section and also check for forums, video tutorials and webinars.

Carnegie Mellon's computervision pages are a huge resource for machine vision and image processing. Thesite references a myriad other relevant sites categorised under severaldifferent headings. "Vision groups" gives a comprehensive listing of activeresearch groups around the world, "Hardware" gives access to purveyors ofresearch systems and commercial products, "Software" to research code, imageprocessing toolkits, display tools and synthetic data generators. In additionthere are conferences and publications (including references, papers andproceedings, books and tutorials and journals), links to sites offeringdemonstration facilities and a host of other related links, FAQs, newsgroups andarchives. One page of note is that allocated to test images, a list ofaccessible image resources to prevent having to generate fresh images forresearch projects. Taken in the main from research organisations from all overthe Web, the collection includes stereo images, medical images, faces,fingerprints and a host of others in a variety of formats. The site has its ownsearch engine, and given that it is maintained completely up to date, this isprobably the place to start for looking for information on computer vision andimaging.

The ISMV group is one of13 research and development groups in the instrumentation and controls divisionof the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The ISMV conducts pure and appliedresearch in the areas of machine vision and perception. Some of the topics beingworked on include spatial signature analysis, fingerprint analysis currencyinspection among others. At their Web site there is information about thelaboratory and its aims and goals, some detailed project information includingpublications of the group available in full at the site in addition to otherreferences.

Amara Graps is aresearcher and writer in the field of astronomical physics. Her own Web sitemakes an interesting destination for a visit, but perhaps the most usefulresource there is the renowned introduction to wavelets and accompanyingsoftware based on Matlab algorithms and functions.

A commercial site forvision equipment from Subtechnique, distributors and integrators of industrialvideo and machine vision systems. The pages offer the usual company informationand includes lists of their extensive range of machine vision products, listedeither by manufacturer or type. Although some of the site is unfortunately underconstruction, there is a good page of machine vision links to other Web sites.

Optimas Corporation is aleading provider of PC Windows-based machine vision and image analysis softwareand services for industrial, academic, and government markets worldwide. Theirsite offers product, service and company information, an FAQ for their productsand a number of technical application notes. The "catapult" page offers morelinks into the realm of machine vision on the Web.

Claiming to be the world'smost successful machine vision company in the world, Cognex's site gives aninsight into the company's history, products and philosophy. There are someapplications information pages and FAQs for their own specific productinformation, and a handful of links into other sites.

Founded in 1984, the AIAis the only trade association in North America organised specifically to servemachine vision suppliers and machine vision users. Key AIA activities includesponsorship of machine vision shows, machine vision conferences and workshops,and the publication of the annual Machine Vision Market Study. The Website has a searchable supplier directory and event diary, and a list of theassociation's publications and library resources. Exhibition information, a listof the available training resources and a list of press releases complete thesite.

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