uniVision 2.2: Image Processing Software Receives PROFINET Interface

Update strengthens uniVision platform with new features

uniVision – the parameterizable standard software for two and three-dimensional image processing – has been given an update. The latest release 2.2 enables Smart Cameras and control units to be integrated into controls quickly and easily via a PROFINET interface. New software modules and new functions for the visualization of results also make this update particularly valuable for users.

Easier integration thanks to PROFINET: Thanks to the integrated interface in Smart Cameras and control units, the results of image and profile evaluations can now be transferred in real time via the established Industrial Ethernet standard. This makes seamless communication between the sensor, software and control even easier. As a future-proof technology, PROFINET stands for the digitalization of production processes in line with Industry 4.0 like no other protocol. “The user development in this area is proving us right: According to the Profibus association, the PROFINET standard experienced an enormous growth of around 25 percent once again in 2019! With a total number of 6.4 million recorded devices, it is the most used real-time interface in the world. This is therefore an ideal opportunity for us to shape this development by integrating PROFINET in uniVision”, explains wenglor Product Manager Martin Knittel. Process data can also be processed via other interfaces such as digital IOs, TCP/IP or UDP.

Web-based visualization increases user-friendliness
Another feature of the uniVision update 2.2 is the new web-based visualization function. This enables the results to be displayed as overlays (e.g. measurement points or lines) directly in the image or height profile. A “good/bad” display of the overlays in the signal colors red and green is also available, showing the user whether the test points are OK (OK) or not OK (NOK). All measurement results can thus be shown quickly and flexibly via a browser-based display. “The user wants to see at first glance what the cameras or 2D/3D profile sensors are seeing – along with the results of the evaluation easily and directly in the image or profile. All relevant information visualized clearly on a screen – this makes the system tangibly more user-friendly for end users”, continues Knittel.

New software modules increase variety of functions
The update 2.2 is rounded off with the new FTP module for saving image, profile or text files on the uniVision device itself or on a FTP server in the network. This enables image data to be generated and exported for documentation purposes. The additional new “Count” module also enables good and bad parts to be counted to provide an overview of the current production process. “Both modules are included in all uniVision packages and in all hardware classes. This makes uniVision even more capable and comprehensive.” The newly integrated VisionApp360 plugin even enables combined height profiles from 2D/3D profile sensors to be evaluated and cross-sectional areas to be determined.

That’s uniVision, the all-in-one software
The parameterizable uniVision standard software is used to analyze images and height profiles in the field of industrial image processing. Two and three-dimensional data from Smart Cameras, vision systems and control units with 2D/3D profile sensors can also be evaluated. The software is structured like an intelligent toolbox. In total, users have up to 25 different software modules available (e.g. measurement, threshold value, cluster, OCR, pattern matching, tracking etc.), as well as different templates (e.g. to read 1D codes, check presence, detect patterns or to detect colors), depending on the hardware selected.