Posted to News on 18th Jun 2014, 10:59
Flowchart-based, hardware-independent machine vision software
Matrox Imaging is announcing the immediate availability of Design Assistant 4 (DA 4) vision software, which the company claims is the first hardware-independent integrated development environment (IDE) that lets users easily create an application flowchart and HMI and take projects from concept to completion very rapidly, without the need for conventional programming. It not only works with the Matrox Iris GT smart camera but also any PC with GigE Vision or USB3 Vision cameras, including the Matrox 4Sight GPm industrial computer.
Fabio Perelli, the product manager at Matrox, says: "Design Assistant is field-proven in demanding vision applications in a wide range of industries including automotive manufacturing, consumer products production, electronics assembly, food and beverage production, medical device manufacturing, logistics, pharmaceutical production and semiconductor fabrication. This latest release, with its ease-of-use and support for any PC with GigE Vision or USB3 Vision cameras, has been eagerly awaited by system integrators, machine builders and line integrators around the world."
David R Sexton, the president of North Coast Technical, Inc, a Matrox Imaging representative in the USA, says: "DA 4's hardware independence will foster new projects that take advantage of cameras offering high resolution, speed, and specialty features such as thermal images. What is more, DA 4's support for host PCs gives us access to unlimited computer processing horsepower to solve more advanced and sophisticated machine vision challenges."
Lei Jin, the marketing manager at Microview & Lingzhi, a Matrox Imaging representative in China, adds: "DA 4 is so easy to use it will greatly shorten the development time for automation projects. Customers will no longer have to dedicate expensive engineering resources to programming their inspection projects."
Thomas Graf, the general manager of Fabrimex Systems AG, a Matrox Imaging representative in Switzerland, notes: "DA 4 is exactly the product we need for our integrators who face a wide variety of vision system challenges every day. They can now choose the PCs and cameras they need to meet price and performance targets for any application; with the confidence they can easily design the project in record time."
Pricing and availability
DA 4 is available now and is included with Matrox Iris GT smart cameras, pre-installed on specific models of Matrox 4Sight GPm industrial computers, and sold separately for use with generic PCs with GigE Vision or USB3 Vision cameras. For a limited time, it is available at a special introductory price by contacting a Matrox Imaging representative. Design Assistant 4 is also available as a free upgrade for registered DA users with valid maintenance subscriptions. An evaluation copy of DA 4 can also be requested on the Matrox Imaging website, and there is an excellent short video here that shows how simple it is to use Design Assistant 4 (DA 4) vision software.
