TwinCAT Vision: Software for industrial machine vision
PC-based control specialist Beckhoff has expanded its established, highly successful TwinCAT product range to include TwinCAT Vision, an integrated image processing solution. This addition underscores the increasing importance of image processing as a quality factor across mechanical engineering, particularly in applications like Industrie 4.0, quality optimization and track-and-trace. On the software side, TwinCAT Vision expands the range of vision hardware to a complete solution for industrial image processing.
PC-based control offers an ideal solution here: TwinCAT Vision adds image processing to a universal control platform that incorporates PLC, motion control, robotics, high-end measurement technology, IoT and HMI. This simplifies engineering significantly because configuration and programming tasks are performed in the familiar PLC environment. In addition, all control functions related to image processing can be synchronized in the runtime system precisely, in real time. Latency is eliminated, and the image processing algorithms are executed in real time. This marks a major advance in quality compared to conventional machine vision solutions. With TwinCAT Vision, machine builders can fully integrate image processing tasks into the central control system, paving the way for more advanced machine designs that are capable of satisfying tomorrow’s marketplace demands,and offer enhanced competitiveness and investment security.
A winning edge with TwinCAT Vision
- Competitive advantage: Incorporating image processing into the overall control system can improve machine efficiency. Machine vision capabilities enhance superior real-time applications.
- Industrie 4.0 made easy: Integrating PLC, motion control, measurement technology and machine vision functionality with IoT and analytics on a single control platform makes Industrie 4.0 applications much easier to implement.
- Increased production efficiency: High-precision measurement and precise optical inspection ensure compliance with process parameters.
- Quality assurance: Applications such as track-and-trace support complete traceability of product quality.
- Openness: TwinCAT Vision follows the Beckhoff philosophy of open control technology.Hardware-neutral: TwinCAT Vision works with both line scan and area scan cameras with GigE Vision interface.
Software extensions: Allow users to access raw camera data and incorporate their own image processing algorithms easily.
- Cloud connectivity: TwinCAT Vision is integrated into the TwinCAT control platform. It can connect directly to TwinCAT IoT and TwinCAT Analytics. This ensures easy communication with the cloud, enables access to cloud-based services and streamlines Industrie 4.0 applications.
- Real-time applications: Integrating the PLC, motion control, robotics, high-end measurement technology and machine vision capabilities on a single platform enables superior real-time application performance and significant gains in machine efficiency. It also prevents unnecessary delays in motion and robotics.
