Sony & Cognex Join Forces

At this year’s Vision Show East, Sony Electronics announced that Cognex will certify its forthcoming VisionPro software release to operate on Sony’s current line up of Smart Cameras.

Combining these software/hardware capabilities into an integrated package will provide integrators, machine builders and OEMs with an industry-standard platform suitable for a broad spectrum of machine vision applications such as automotive, pharmaceutical, electronics, and food and beverage, to name a few.

“Sony Smart cameras running VisionPro software is a great combination,” said Mike McCausland, general manager of the visual imaging group for Sony Electronics. “Together, they can provide the market an unbeatable value-proposition in terms of capability, flexibility and reliability.”

“This combination will deliver the flexibility of a mainstream PC-based vision system in a compact form factor,” added Marilyn Matz, senior vice president of vision software business unit for Cognex. “It offers a fully programmable vision software library with hardware consistency for years ahead.”

Both McCausland and Matz added that the collaboration would continue for the foreseeable future, with VisionPro certification planned for the next generation of Sony Smart cameras scheduled for a September release.

When introduced in 2005, Sony Smart Cameras established a new approach for the machine vision hardware category. According to Sony, its comprehensive lineup eliminates the cost and clutter of dealing with integrating the PC element of the machine vision solutions. They sidestep the issue inherent to integrating parts and interfaces from a multitude of vendors to deliver a simple, economical, plug-in component.

Sony’s planned release of next generation smart cameras will include new color cameras with enhanced features such as improved processing speed, high frame rates (90 fps at VGA resolution and 30 fps at SXGA resolution) as well as expanded SDRAM memory and digital I/O and interface options.

For more information, visit: www.sony.com/videocameras , or www.cognex.com