AI for factory automation provides maximum flexibility with vision apps

The recently released software update for the IDS NXT ocean platform supplies users of the all-in-one AI solution with many new features. It opens the system's AI abilities to include object detection, provides turnkey solutions with vision apps and, with a new development environment, guarantees that users can program their own image processing tasks and run them as vision apps on their cameras. Using OPC UA, AI-based image processing can also be incorporated directly into factory automation without creating a single line of code. The update is free and can be employed with all its series of cameras.

The solution makes image processing with AI as simple as possible. Users with no deep learning or programming skills are supported by precisely coordinated workflows and tools. They can now employ the new vision apps 'Classifier' and 'Object Detector', for example, to classify image components or identify specific objects based on AI with their own cameras. The vision app concept also assures that users can set image processing tasks to the cameras as wished. The range of applications is virtually unlimited and comprises everything from simple barcode reading to complex AI analyses.

Another major improvement is the inclusion of the industry-standard protocol OPC UA. The company's cameras can now communicate with machines and controllers in the same language and exchange tasks or results directly. Standardised communication via OPC UA also creates the prerequisite for the 'plug and produce' of new devices. The use of this key technology allows the integration of intelligent cameras into factory automation with no additional hardware or programming effort. The set-up time of machine vision systems can therefore be decreased to a minimum.