LMI Upgrades Recognition And Metrology Software

LMI Technologies has announced the release of Version 4.1 of its Hexsight software for high-accuracy recognition and metrology. The new V4.1 Hexsight software adds further support for colour image processing and hardware acceleration. According to Terry Arden, the company's chief executive officer, Hexsight 4.1 is a recognition and metrology library suitable for deployment on PCs and now embedded platforms such as the Sony Intelligent Camera product line.

Hexsight's geometric pattern recognition technology offers the flexible contour-based identification of objects unaffected by scale, orientation, lighting, occlusion, clutter, contrast reversal or even subtle colour variation. After finding objects, Hexsight delivers a flexible set of metrology tools to measure and confirm that the parts meet key tolerances. To maximise the capabilities of the software, Hexsight 4.1 incorporates a range of third-party camera and frame-grabber support.

The latest release adds support for fully compliant GigE vision cameras, adding to the current capability to work with any IEEE 1394(Firewire) and USB camera that uses a Directshow driver. Hexsight 4.1 is suitable for a range of machine-vision challenges, including road sign detection, solar wafer inspection, shirt tag location and analyses, optical character recognition, brake-pad inspection and part sorting and sizing.

Mechatronic Drive Solution Earns SEW-EURODRIVE Recognition For Product Innovation Of The Year

SEW-EURODRIVE, a global leader in drive engineering, has been recognized by Frost and Sullivan for its pioneering work in the development of the world’s first truly mechatronic drive system. The company cited SEW EURODRIVE MOVIGEAR®, which integrates motor, drive and matching drive electronics in a single compact housing, with its Product Innovation of the Year award.

“Thanks to pioneering new technology – including single line installation – MOVIGEAR offers a number of benefits over conventional drive solutions” said Frost and Sullivan industry analysts Suman Bhaskar and Kaushik Ghosh, who conducted the European market survey that singled out SEW’s innovative drive. The award cited the compact design, high overload capacity, short commissioning and start-up times, low noise emissions and smooth housing design of MOVIGEAR, predicting that it will also mean lower installation and energy costs for customers.

In contrast to current decentralized automation technology, which relies on two separate cables for energy and communication, the single line technology deployed with MOVIGEAR uses one cable, reducing the complications and cost of on-site installations. This simplified system structure can reduce the duration of startups from weeks to a matter of days.

MOVIGEAR provides a combination of energy-efficiency, hygienic protection and functionality within a single drive that has never been achieved before. It is designed for use in a wide range of horizontal conveyor applications, including automotive assembly, food and beverage, airport logistics and package and parcel handling.

“The positive market response has encouraged us to broaden our marketing activities for MOVIGEAR in preparation for release in other countries, including the U.S.,” said Dave Ballard, U.S. engineering and marketing manager. The company successfully implemented MOVIGEAR systems into several European projects for the automotive and beverage industries in 2007.

Frost and Sullivan pointed out that MOVIGEAR can reduce overall costs for customers, even though component costs are slightly higher than those for conventional drive solutions. This is due to the high-quality network characteristics and control concepts of the design. These reduce startup time considerably and minimize monitoring and maintenance tasks.

“Our experience in developing and field-testing the pre-integrated MOVIGEAR System has confirmed the benefits of mechatronic engineering,” said Ballard. “We’re taking electronic components out of their comfort zone, where they could be exposed to vibrations, higher temperatures and humidity, so we’ve had to redesign every component, from microchips to heat sinks to housings, to ensure reliable, long-term performance.”

By creating a pre-integrated drive system which functions within the enclosed environment of a housing, MOVIGEAR components are matched to application requirements. Since each component operates more efficiently, the resulting drive system uses less energy. That, along with lower maintenance costs, will lower equipment operating costs.

Schott Enhances CAM Feature Recognition

Schott Systeme has launched an online video demonstration of its latest freeform feature recognition tools. Designed specifically with mould and model makers in mind, these tools help overcome the limitations of current CAM feature recognition packages, whereby only prismatic items such as pockets and holes are extracted from a model. Schott Systeme's CAD/CAM solution 'Pictures by PC' is able to examine and extract geometry for machining of far greater complexity.

By combining these enhanced recognition tools with the software's latest surface modelling capabilities, users are able to prepare models for machining in a greatly reduced timeframe. Citing mouldtool design as a typical example, all freeform holes on a model, such as those created to house ejector pins, can automatically be covered in a single click, preventing tooling during finishing operations from disappearing into the holes.

Complex features such as the slots created by electrodes can also be automatically covered using the software's advanced surfacing function, again improving finishing operations, but also removing the need to create complex and time-consuming surface patches, as can often be the case with mid-range CAD modellers.

Tapered pocket side walls requiring five-axis 'swarf cutting', characteristic of aerospace components, and freeform chamfers to be finished using five-axis 'end mill' techniques, are all features that can be instantly extracted from a 3D CAD model.

Helping to identify areas that require rest machining, actual radius surfaces within a given size range are automatically identified and extracted for re-machining. Similar tools also allow the selection of 'chained' radius faces, so entire freeform filleted features can be chosen in a single click.

Freeform models may often include numerous planar faces that require the application of normal facing operations. Here, the software searches for and extracts all planar faces on a freeform model, and machines them as individual 2.5D pockets, taking into account at all times the actual 3D model. This removes the possibility of gauging and tool collisions.