Easy development for vision applications

VisionTools is a PC-based graphical editor that allows a nonspecialist user to build a flowchart composed of "blocks" and connections.

Smart cameras have many performance advantages, but most users find it difficult to develop their applications in C (let alone Assembly) language.

Even programmers often feel that development effort may be excessive for applications that will not be repeated in significant numbers and which have to be operative within days.

VisionTools is a PC-based graphical editor that allows a nonspecialist user to build a flowchart composed of "blocks" and connections.

Each block is dragged-and-dropped from a wide (120+) library of image-processing tools, and connections are used to define the flow of processing.

Blocks are available for processing tasks such as binarising, pattern matching, contour following, subpixel gauging, OCR, barcode and several others.

Flow control and conditional blocks (if-then-else) allow powerful structures to be built.

Other blocks are devoted to the user interface (graphics elements such as windows, scrollbars, checkboxes, text and graphics can be displayed on the smart camera VGA output) and to interfacing to the outside world (I/Os, RS232, Ethernet, even a touch screen).

VisionTools includes a camera simulator, so that the application can be tested on the PC (even without a camera), using images saved from several sources.

It is therefore possible to fully develop, test and demonstrate an application without spending any money: the program is in fact free, and only a run-time kernel on the camera is charged for, once the application is in the field.

Of course, no PC is then required for camera operation, as Vision Components smart cameras are fully stand alone The developed application can be encrypted so that the developer can protect the program from copy or reverse engineering.

Although C programming is not required, programmers can develop their own C functionalities and use them as tools in the flowchart.

A support forum run by VisionTools users has also been started, to share questions, solutions and application opportunities.

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