New camera series released with event-based sensor

How do you capture small, fast-moving objects efficiently and without motion blur? How do you analyse movements in general without generating large amounts of data? With the new uEye EVS, IDS Imaging Development Systems GmbH is releasing an industrial camera with an event-based vision sensor designed to fulfil these challenges. Instead of a continuous stream of data, it only captures relevant events. Compared to classic image-based systems, the volume of data generated is greatly reduced. The camera is the ideal solution for applications that demand efficiency and precision at high speed, such as optical monitoring of vibrations or high-speed motion analyses.

The ultra-compact USB3 camera visualises the smallest real-time movements and is completely loss-free. Thanks to its extremely high dynamic range, it works in almost complete darkness. This is made possible by the SONY/Prophesee IMX636 event-based vision sensor. In contrast to conventional image sensors, it does not capture every image completely at regular intervals (frames) but only reacts to changes within a scene. It transmits events depending on when and where the brightness in its FoV changes – for each sensor pixel. The temporal resolution, i.e. the minimum measurable time difference between two successive changes in brightness, can be less than 100 microseconds.

"Event-based cameras achieve a remarkable temporal resolution, making them optimised for highly dynamic scenes. The best conditions for capturing fast object movements without loss of information - comparable to an image-based frame rate of more than 10,000 images per second," explains Patrick Schick – product owner 3D and Vision Software. At the same time, the sensor ignores all motionless areas of its field of view and, therefore, generates 10 to 1000 times less data than image-based variants. This saves memory and computing time.

Thanks to the event-based sensor technology, these cameras only capture relevant changes in the image.

With the 'uEye EVS' camera line and the first uEye XCP-E product family, the company offers event-based sensor technology in an ultra-compact industrial format of 29mm x 29mm x 17mm. The fully enclosed die-cast zinc housing with a C-mount adapter, the compact size, and the screw-on USB Micro-B connector make the camera excellent for various applications in industrial and non-industrial areas. Further versions will be added to the product line.