Banner Ivu Vision Sensor Part 1

banner vision iVu Camera vision sensor

How often do you get complaints or returns from your customer for product that was shipped that may not have been correct or have some soft of defect? Do you currently have someone that is inspecting product manually? How about a cost effective solution that can inspect your product and make sure what you are sending out the door is correct…. And it may not be as hard as you think.

This article and Ramco TV video will cover Banner Engineering’s vision sensor the Ivu.

There are two basic versions of the IVU – The TG is your basic inspection sensor. This can inspect for size, orientation shape, location, matching, ect. The second version is the BCR. This is a perfect solution to read and verify a variety of 1D and 2D barcodes when the barcode position may not necessarily be predictable.

The ivu features an onboard screen that allows you to not only view the image, but program it as well. Other models allow for a 3.5” remote screen so you can have your camera inside a machine, but still allow you to program and view the image.

The best part about the ivu is No PC is required. It is very easy to program with menu driven tools to guide you through the setup.

Hardware Features

Hardware features include integrated LED ring light. Serveral color options can be ordered including red, green, blue, IR, White, UV, or if you choose no light at all. If you wish to control an external light… a 5V external stobe output is available.

There are also several different lens options from 4.3 all they way up to 25mm. If you wish this can be ordered in a C-mount lens and you can choose whatever you want. Keep in mind this no longer allows for integrated ring light.

IO Connector to power up and trigger the camera as well as up to 3 digital outputs to indicate pass, fail, or camera status.

There is a USB host for program backup and download as an 4 pin Pico connection for Ethernet connectivity. This Ethernet protocol does include Ethernet/Ip so we can communicate to any PLC with Ethernet/IP capability.

Housing is very robust and is IP67 rated. Indicators on the top for status and pass/fail indication.

On-board Inspection Tools

The emulator software is a free download available from Banner. No software is required for programming, but the nice advantage of this emulator is you can upload any image into the emulator and can do a basic inspection. This is great tool for testing the camera solution and presenting proof to upper management.

The TG version

Area Tool – Is used to ensure that features or multiple features are present on a part. It can be used for parts counting and sizing as well. Example of this type of application is to verify a gasket is present on a part.

Blemish Tool – Is used to look for flaws on a part. You can teach it a good part and if it see’s any extra areas it can indicate a failure. Example would be to look for a scratch on a part.

Match Tool – Used to verify a pattern, shape or part matches reference image. Example of this is to verify a label is present on a bottle, the right one and in the correct orientation.

Sort Tool – This is basically a match tool, but can be used to turn on an output based on what image is found. Up to 10 images can be stored. Example of this is if you have multiple parts coming down a conveyor you can use the camera to identify and divert to a certain location.

The BCR Camera

As you can see the camera is identifying the barcode within the field of view. It can read up to 11 different 1D barcodes and 2D barcodes including Data Matrix and QR Codes.

You can also see that it can even read multiple barcodes within the field of view.

The camera can not only read the barcode, but verify the barcode is the correct number and give a pass or fail indication.
The advantage of using a camera instead of a traditional line scan reader is with a camera, the barcode doesn’t have to be in the same exact place. As long as it is in the field of view it can read it. It also has the ability to read it in any orientation.

Making sure quality product is going out the door is very important not only to prevent customer complaints, but to prevent potential safety issues. The iVU from Banner Engineering is one of many tools that can help prevent product flaws going out the door.