Data Translation Announces Update2002 Catalog

Data Translation,® Inc. announces the publication of Update2002, its new, short-form catalog for PC-based data acquisition, imaging and machine vision products. Update2002 was designed in response to customers’ needs for streamlined, easy-to-find information on Data Translation’s line of hardware, software and tools. Organized by product family, it includes summaries, technical specifications and links for easy navigation to extensive data sheets located on the company’s newly designed Web site.

According to Fred Molinari, president, founder and CEO of Data Translation, the strategy for Update2002 bridges the best print has to offer with the immediacy and depth of the Web. "Print conveys a breadth of information, while the Web offers detailed layers of information. Both the catalog and our newly designed Web site work together so that users can get an overview of our products using Update2002, then hyperlink to our Web site for as many levels of detail as they want."

The new catalog’s focus also underscores the many industry solutions being met with the company’s PC-based measurement solutions. And since many solutions involve both sensor and vision data, Data Translation is leading the way to converge both types of data into one application environment.

"Update2002 highlights the capability of the company’s products, namely DT Measure Foundry, DT Vision Foundry and DTiX, to converge physical measurement with visual inspection data," said Molinari. "Data Translation is pioneering this new direction, which will change the test and measurement industry the same way convergence has changed the telecommunications industry. The convergence of physical measurement with visual inspection will not only result in much better diagnosis of industrial systems, but allow users to correlate information, resulting in a much clearer picture of the measurement challenge for quicker, better-informed decision making."

Highlighted in the new Update2002 catalog are Data Translation’s recent innovations in the measurement field. DT Measure FoundryTM is the company’s new approach to developing test and measurement applications. DT Measure Foundry’s unique aspect-oriented programming design lets users create a test and measurement application using a drag-and-drop method, thereby eliminating the need for complex programming or wiring. EDN Magazine named DT Measure Foundry to its Hot 100 2001 Products list, an exclusive year-end feature of the top 100 innovative products selected by readers, and singled out the product as an Innovation 2001 Finalist. DT Measure Foundry also won Evaluation Engineering magazine’s 8th annual Readers’ Choice Awards in the Software category in 2001.

DT Vision FoundryTM is the company’s enhanced, fully integrated, easy-to-use machine vision solution for dynamic inspection applications. It integrates powerful vision tools with multiple programming environments. DT Vision Foundry was awarded Test & Measurement World magazine’s Best in Test Award for 2000.

To offer added capability for those applications that require sensor and inspection measurement, the company announced a link between data acquisition and machine vision applications. This exchange link mechanism is called DTiX (Data Translation Information Exchange). DTiX lets users share measurement and vision data between DT Measure Foundry and DT Vision Foundry, respectively. It also extends the capabilities of both application environments with other DCOM-based applications, such as Visual Basic® and Visual C++®.

On the imaging side, Data Translation recently announced the DT3162 variable-scan monochrome frame grabber for the PCI bus. The board provides up to a 40 MHz pixel acquire rate to accommodate newer, faster cameras; high-resolution data sampling for exact measurement; and advanced software capabilities for programmable timing, resolution, camera set-up and video format. Because many machine vision applications require control functions, the DT3162 also provides four-input and four-output digital lines so it can be used as a one-board solution.