Smart industry components store.

The launch of SIS-TA, Smart Industry Store – Technology Access, a newly established subsidiary designed to address the growing demand for fast, transparent, and highly efficient procurement processes within industrial automation has been launched by Stemmer Imaging. This enterprise, SIS-TA, introduces a fully digital and transactional sales platform for smart industry components.

With SIS-TA, Stemmer strategically expands its existing business model by complementing its established consultative approach with a scalable online sales channel focused on speed, simplicity, and direct availability.

Responding to Changing Customer Expectations.
Industrial purchasing behaviour has fundamentally changed in recent years. Customers increasingly conduct product research, technology comparisons, and supplier evaluations digitally and independently. At the same time, expectations regarding transparent pricing, immediate availability, and direct ordering capabilities continue to rise.

SIS-TA was specifically created to address these market developments with a digital-first approach tailored to customers who require fast and efficient procurement processes for industrial automation products.

“The market is shifting from education to execution,” explains Mike Weccardt CEO, SIS- TA GmbH “Customers increasingly know exactly what they need and expect frictionless purchasing experiences with maximum transparency and speed.”

A transactional platform for industrial automation.
The new online platform serves as the central customer interface, covering the complete purchasing process from product selection and availability checks to transparent pricing and direct ordering.

At launch, SIS-TA focuses on machine vision products including cameras, optics, lighting, and frame grabbers. Over time, the portfolio will expand to include additional smart industry technologies such as cobots, AMRs, industrial sensors, smart cameras, motion control solutions, industrial I/O, and PLC systems.

SIS-TA will provide AI-powered first- and second-level support to ensure fast and efficient customer assistance. For more complex projects, solutions, and applications, customers will have access to Stemmer's expert support organisation and its highly specialised engineering teams.

Strategic expansion into new customer segments.
SIS-TA is specifically designed to address customer groups that increasingly prioritise speed, price transparency, and simplified procurement processes. The platform enables Stemmer Imaging to expand into new market segments while strengthening long-term customer relationships within the broader group ecosystem.

The operating model has been intentionally designed to remain lean, scalable, and highly automated, allowing rapid adaptation to changing market requirements and future portfolio expansion.

SIS-TA takes the next strategic step in industrial digitalisation - combining competitive products, digital sales models, and integrated services into a future- oriented smart industry platform.

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@stemmerimaging #PAuto

Machine vision board changes.

The Supervisory Board of Stemmer Imaging has appointed Uwe Kemm to the company’s Executive Board effective from 01 April 2020. As a member of the Executive Board (COO) he will be responsible for the further development and implementation of key initiatives in the context of corporate strategy in addition to overseeing operations in key business units.

Uwe Kemm

Uwe Kemm has more than 30 years of experience as a manager in international and national companies in the technology industry. His responsibilities included, in particular sales and business development as well as successful market launches of new products and technologies. In addition he has assumed responsibility for various company acquisitions as well as organizational development, integration and change management.

At the same time, Martin Kersting (CTO) resigned from the Executive Board as of 31 March 2020 for personal reasons and is leaving the company at his own request. However, he will remain involved in an active advisory function.

"On behalf of the Supervisory Board, I would like to thank Martin Kersting for his many years of very dedicated service to the company. In Uwe Kemm, we have gained a technology expert with many years of management experience with both a global player and with a number of medium-sized companies in the software market," said Klaus Weinmann, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Stemmer Imaging AG. "We wish him continued success and look forward to working with him in a trustful cooperation".

"Since summer 2019, Uwe Kemm has provided key inputs and achieved decisive results in strategic projects in a consultancy capacity for the company. I am looking forward to a successful cooperation",  added Arne Dehn (CEO)

#PAuto @stemmerimaging

Imaging pioneer passes!

Former managing director of Stemmer Imaging in Britain, David Hearn, passed away on March 21st 2020 after battling a long illness. Since 2004, when Firstsight Vision became the first company to join Stemmer, up until his retirement due to ill health last year, David led the Stemmer Imaging UK business from strength to strength.

David Hearn
1960-2020

Arne Dehn, Stemmer's CEO, said: “David was an amazing person and leader whose extraordinary passion helped create the success of our vision business in the UK and he also greatly influenced our industry in general. Formats that have become highly regarded in our industry and our company such as the STEMMER IMAGING handbook and the Technology Forum were initiated by David and to this day reflect his innovative outlook.”

David’s first involvement with vision was working for Data Translation selling PC based data acquisition and imaging processing hardware and software. He then became director at the Optimas Corporation and later set up Vortex Vision in 1997. Wilhelm Stemmer took a stake in this business and the first products that David sold were very similar to those that Willi was selling in Germany.

In 2001, David and Mark Williamson brought their complementary businesses together and formed Firstsight Vision, who originally acted as distributors in Britain for Stemmer Imaging before becoming the first wholly owned subsidiary.

Mark Williamson, corporate marketing director and current managing director at Stemmer Imaging UK, remembers: “David started Vortex Vision within a month of me starting Pinnacle Vision. We even met to discuss starting up together, but our competitive natures meant we went our own ways. However it wasn’t too long before we both realized that together we could be stronger, and when Imaging Technology was acquired by Coreco (now Teledyne DALSA) we took the step to join our companies. David was a truly inspiring leader whose humour and compassion were second to none.”

David was a hugely popular figure in the office and was a master of the quirky turn of phrase which quickly became known as ‘Hearnisms’. He was also renowned for his fun initiatives for the sales team and his motivating and humorous self-made awards as well as the famous bell ringing ceremony for every order intake, which became a tradition throughout the company.

Arne Dehn concluded: “Today it was the company’s turn to ring the bell in honour of David. He will be sorely missed and we wish to extend our condolences to his wife Penny and the rest of his family.”

@stemmerimaging

Machine vision programming upgrade!

The release of CVB 2019 introduces new APIs to provide an innovative way of developing machine vision solutions with Common Vision Blox, together with an impressive range of new tools. These tools provide functionality for hyperspectral and polarisation imaging, as well as OPC UA machine to machine communication capability for Industry 4.0 requirements. In addition it is now possible to develop machine learning solutions on embedded platforms. Object recognition speeds have been greatly increased, as have video sequence recording speeds.

CVB Image Manager and CameraSuite 2019 feature three new object-oriented APIs, supporting C++, .NET and Python. These APIs make getting started with Common Vision Blox significantly easier and help eliminate some of the most common programming issues in lifetime and memory management. Python support in particular brings the power and speed of CVB to a new group of users who are used to quick results and easy programming. The new APIs are compatible with the existing CVB API, meaning that users can build on existing applications without having to re-write their codebase. Linux support now covers Ubuntu 18.04 as well as 16.04 on Intel platforms and ARM. CVB software protection (WIBU dongles and CameraSuite licence) is also now working on ARM.

The CVB Foundation Package 2019 now benefits from a communication framework for Industry 4.0 (OPC UA) and Polarisation functionality as well as improvements to the speed and stability of 3D calibration in Metric. The OPC UA framework allows OPC UA server and client functionality. It is useful for machine-to-machine communications between vision systems and robots or PLCs, for example and is an integral part of an Industry 4.0 connected factory. Polarization is a full toolbox to get the most from the polarisation cameras. It allows easy access to the data from the polarisation sensors from Teledyne DALSA and Sony (used in many camera families). Everything from simple ‘de-mosaicing’ to ‘minimum reflection images’ to Stokes’ parameters and the angle/degree of polarisation can be handled, enabling reflectivity and surface-normal calculations to be made for applications in a wide range of industries.

CVB Spectral is a completely new tool to help industrial users harness the power of hyperspectral imaging for scientific, wavelength-based analysis. CVB Spectral is a complete toolbox for acquiring and preparing hyperspectral data from hyperspectral cameras and ENVI files so that traditional image processing tools can be used on the results. A hyperspectral data-cube, which can also be acquired, saved and loaded using CVB Spectral, can be corrected for optical and lighting effects to create wavelength-correct RGB or LAB colour data. This gives real area colorimetry information far more accurately than can be achieved with 3-chip cameras. The data-cube can also be sliced to produce useful 2D images for further processing. Typically these might be (x, wavelength) or (y,wavelength) at a certain x or y value.

CVB 2019 also contains some significant updates to existing tools. Recognising the importance of embedded vision and machine learning as key machine vision themes, the CVB Polimago machine learning tool is now available for Linux on Intel and ARM platforms. A raw recording method has been added to CVB Movie. This makes full use of the speed of the disks and the data-formats of the camera to allow recording speeds of gigabytes per second. In addition, CUDA support has been added to the 64-bit Windows version of CVB ShapeFinder. This means that with the right GPU hardware it is possible to increase search speed by 250%. An NVidia Jetson version is also available on request.

#PAuto @stemmerimaging

Machine vision!

Registration is now open for the STEMMER IMAGING UK Machine Vision Technology Forum which will take place at the Vox Conference Centre in Birmingham (GB) on 13-14 November 2019. Featuring a choice from an in-depth two day program or the free second day, the event is billed as the Britain’s most comprehensive machine vision learning event.

The normal charge for any of these courses at the European Imaging Academy, excluding accommodation, would be £325 +VAT.  The special Technology Forum promotion includes hotel, dinner and breakfast as well as the course of your choice at an ‘Early Bird’ price of £275 +VAT up until 13th October 2019 and £325 + VAT thereafter.  Places for day 1 are limited, so early booking is advised.

The biennial forum which is organised in conjunction with the European Imaging Academy is part of a tour visiting five countries across Europe with a focus on learning rather than product presentations and includes many sessions given by independent experts. It provides participants with the opportunity to find out about the current trends and new technologies in machine vision and to see how these might be used for their own applications.

Visitors can choose between a 2-day programme including a choice of in-depth training courses followed by a networking dinner with hotel accommodation on day one, or just the free second day. Day two features 54 seminar sessions including hands on taster sessions and state of the art technology overviews next to an exhibition by world leading technology suppliers and integrators.

The free presentations on day 2 are organised in six parallel tracks giving visitors a choice of content. Experts will provide information on the latest topics such as industry 4.0, embedded vision, machine learning and 3D or spectral imaging as well as covering the fundamental cornerstones of machine vision. Visitors can organise their own personal itinerary of presentations to attend.

The supporting exhibition features around 40 leading machine vision manufacturers who will showcase their latest developments, solutions and products. Specialists will be available throughout the day to answer any questions and give advice on any aspect of machine vision.

Training topics covered in day 1 are: planning and implementation of machine vision solutions; optics and illumination systems for machine vision; line scan technologies, hyperspectral imaging – innovative inspection in machine vision; machine learning theory and practice (CVB, Halcon and more) and an introduction to MVTec HALCON with hands-on training.

@stemmerimaging #PAuto #Britain

Fomenting profitable growth in the field of bin-picking applications.

Stemmer Imaging AG has successfully concluded the acquisition of the Spanish group Infaimon S.L. today. The company is acquiring 100 per cent of the shares in the supplier of software and hardware for machine vision and robotics after approval of the transaction by all the relevant antitrust authorities.

The latest acquisition will be consolidated by Stemmer starting from 1 July 2019, as previously announced. The Management Board expects an additional revenue contribution of around €18 million and an EBITDA contribution of around €3 million in the 2019/2020 financial year.

“The acquisition is a gain on many different levels. United under the umbrella of Stemmer Imaging, together we can respond even more effectively to the changing market requirements and continue the profitable growth in the field of bin-picking applications. In addition we are now represented in all key European markets with our own locations and specialist staff. Over the past few weeks, we have been working with focus to ensure a smooth acquisition. We are therefore ideally prepared for a swift and successful integration,” says Lars Böhrnsen, CFO of Stemmer Imaging AG.

In closing this acquisition, the company successfully continues its international expansion strategy. The machine vision specialist is now represented in all key European markets with local branch offices. Headquartered in Barcelona, Infaimon S.L. has subsidiaries in Portugal and locations in Mexico and Brazil. These locations provide a solid foundation to enable Stemmer to expand into other countries such as the USA in the future. With the acquisition, they are also underscoring the strategic importance of state-of-the-art bin-picking solutions, an important capability in the context of Industry 4.0 applications which will further strengthen the company’s product and service portfolio.

@stemmerimaging #MachineVision @INFAIMON

Machine vision benfits from acquisition.

Stemmer Imaging is systematically continuing on its international growth trajectory. To this end, the Group has today implemented an essential strategic plan of its expansion strategy with the agreement to acquire the Spanish company Infaimon S.L., a provider of software and hardware for machine vision and robotics.

“With the acquisition of Infaimon, we are now represented in almost all major European markets. Infaimon meets our requirements for acquisitions in the best possible way. We will immediately broaden our sales network, expand our product and service range with innovative technologies, and gain a high-margin company. The Infaimon locations in Brazil and Mexico will give us opportunities to advance into other regions such as the USA in the future,” says Arne Dehn, Stemmer CEO.

Under the agreement, Stemmer will pay a sum in the low tens of millions of euros for the acquisition of all shares in the group. Their Management Board expects the acquisition to result in an additional revenue contribution of around €18 million and an EBITDA contribution of around €3 million in the 2019/2020 financial year. Subject to approval by the antitrust authorities, consolidation is planned starting on the 1st July 2019.

Headquartered in Barcelona with subsidiaries in Portugal, Mexico and Brazil, Infaimon is a leading provider of machine vision and image recognition processes and their application in sought-after subsystems. In particular, the company has many years of expertise in bin picking applications. These subsystems play a key role in Industry 4.0 and smart factories and are used in the automation of production and logistics processes, among other areas. For example, industrial robots are used here to pick up a preprocessed blank from a production line and place it at the next machining point for further processing.

"We are delighted that the transaction has been successfully finalised and that we are now part of a larger and even more internationalised group. This will enable us to leverage the great potential for bin picking applications in the European market in a timely and efficient manner," says Salvador Giro, CEO of Infaimon S.L.

@stemmerimaging #PAuto

Vision sensing!

The new Teledyne DALSA BOA Spot XL and XLE smart vision sensors, from Stemmer, bring great versatilty for error proofing, identification, general inspection and robotic guidance applications in manufacturing. These new models offer more features than previous models, allowing an even wider range of automated inspection and identification tasks to be performed, yet retain a highly competitive price point.

With a rich array of embedded vision tools and scripting options that allow these tools to be deployed in combination to solve simple or complex inspection tasks, BOA Spot is a vision sensor with many of the capabilities of a smart camera. This functionality has been further enhanced through the introduction of periodic and event driven scripting in the new XL and XLE models. Tools for part locating, feature finding, counting, measuring and code reading can now be linked together to createeven more flexible routines for manufacturing, error proofing, robot guidance or tracking applications.

The new XL vision sensors offer an embedded vision tool set exceeding those available on the BOA Spot EL and IDE vision sensors combined, with the QuickBarcode Direct Part Marking algorithm available on XLE version. New for the XL and XLE models is automatic reading of characters (OCR) based on a trained inference network built from Artificial Intelligence technology and an image calibration process that improves measurement accuracy by correction of perspective image distortion along with coordinate system mapping for robot guidance.

The new models are available with monochrome or colour sensors with a 640 x 480 pixel resolution, and also with a higher resolution 1280 x 960 pixel monochrome sensor. All versions are available with an integral M12 lens and ring light featuring a choice of white, blue or red LEDS. Alternatively they can be purchased with a C mount adapter and no lens, lens cover or light.

Built-in Ethernet factory communication protocols, versatile I/O for control and interfacing, flexible mounting options and a slim line form factor make them ideally suited for factory floor deployment. Further flexibility is provided through the option to upgrade existing BOA Spot models such as the EL/DIE to XL/XLE functionality.

Inspected images can be transferred to a networked drive using the FTP protocol. Easy set up is achieved via a web browser and a suite of support utilities is provided to centrally view and manage multiple cameras across a factory.

@stemmerimaging #PAuto

Machine vision conference.

The 2019 Stemmer Imaging CVB Technical Summit is scheduled 22-23 May 2019 near Munich (D). The meeting is designed to provide delegates with a rich program of events involving the Common Vision Blox machine vision programming library. These will include hands-on demonstrations, technical presentations, training and application examples. There will also be invaluable opportunities to network and share experiences with the CVB user community and experts from the company.

Topics to be covered include a preview of CVB's upcoming DNC 3D tool and how rapid prototyping can be facilitated through Python support in CVB. There’s also a chance to find out how the new CVB OPC UA tool allows information to be communicated and shared in a connected factory environment. For those interested in the innovative Intel 400 Series of RealSense stereo cameras and depth modules, Stemmer Imaging has created a GenICam Transport Layer so that they can be handled in the same way as GigE Vision and USB3 Vision cameras.

Many interesting application areas will be covered from the state of modular embedded systems to the use of hyperspectral imaging to open up applications that have not previously been possible, especially in the food and pharmaceutical industries. The interactive application sessions also provide the opportunities to hear how other users have created innovative solutions using CVB and for any participant to present their own application experiences.

The event will feature a number of useful training sessions to help users to get the most out of CVB. In addition to a training course for complete beginners, there is also the opportunity to find out how to get started with 3D applications. More advanced users can find out how to use machine learning methods within CVB and how the new CVB++, CVB.NET/ CVBpy APIs can make life easier.

@stemmerimaging #PAuto

Change at imaging top!

Arne Dehn is taking over the position of CEO with Stemmer Imaging from current CEO Christof Zollitsch. Together with the proven Executive Board team of Martin Kersting (CTO) and Lars Böhrnsen (CFO), the new CEO Arne Dehn will lead the company into the future. Christof Zollitsch will resign from the Executive Board at his own request.

Arne Dehn and Christof Zollitsch

Arne Dehn takes over the management of the successful machine vision technology provider on 1 March 2019. “Stemmer Imaging has experienced considerable growth in recent years. Christof Zollitsch and his team have built a company with a solid foundation, an outstanding culture and the resources for continuous growth. Managing the next chapter in the company's history is a great pleasure and motivation for me," emphasises Arne Dehn.

He has over 20 years of international management experience in listed technology companies, most recently as a member of the Executive Board of the TKH Group NV technology group which, among other things, develops and distributes machine vision systems and solutions.

Outgoing CEO Christof Zollitsch is confident that the current growth strategy based on innovative and reliable machine vision products and services and the healthy corporate culture will be the key factor for continued success in the future. "I know that the company is in good hands with Arne Dehn. I wish him and all employees all the best, continued success, and that our more than 4,000 customers in Europe place the same trust in Arne Dehn that I personally enjoyed during my tenure as managing director or CEO.”

CEO Arne Dehn will be responsible for corporate strategy and development, M&A, sales, marketing, purchasing and HR. Christof Zollitsch will contribute his experience and expertise as a stategic consultant and will remain closely associated with the company.

@stemmerimaging #PAuto

Scanning assembly!

The Ricoh SC-10 camera inspection system is designed to both provide assembly instructions to operators and verify each step has been completed correctly. The simple, self-contained camera system is having a major impact in many different manufacturing environments in Japan is now available in Europe through Stemmer Imaging.

Typical functionality includes: • Checking the presence of the correct number of parts necessary for assembly • Checking the arrangement of similar parts • Checking whether work is progressing according to work instructions displayed on the monitor • Checking for missing parts on mounted assemblies • Checking all of the assembled products/parts for mistakes in installation • Visual checking to eliminate human error, saving labour rework costs • Confirm whether packed items of the product are bundled according to the instructions

A set of work instructions are loaded into the camera and displayed on a monitor while the camera scans the work piece. The human operator follows the on-screen assembly instructions and after every action the system compares the result to the correct stored image before the next step can be taken. This reduces errors, helps operators learn new tasks and provides a digital audit trail of all operations.

The RICOH SC - 10 series automatically checks the assembly status and identifies incorrect or missing items by using either pattern matching, colour verification or identifying the presence of textures. In addition, when used in conjunction with a Barcode scanner it can record the part number and select the job instruction set, record the serial number and user ID. Each step completed is recorded in a CSV file including the time spent and an optional image of the inspection can be saved. This means that it can be used for assembly work analysis and traceability.

The camera features in-built software, which can be set up with a directly attached mouse and keyboard via USB. An HDMI monitor can be connected to display the assembly instructions and inspection state. No PC is required. Job configuration and instruction along with the inspection audit report can be stored either on the inbuilt SD card or on a network storage location via the inbuilt Ethernet port.

The Ricoh SC-10 is available in a standard and high magnification versions. The addition of the high magnification lens allows smaller parts to be inspected, for example on PCBs, and the inspection of a wider field of view.

 @stemmerimaging #Europe #PAuto

Hyperspectral Imaging capability acquired.

Stemmer has acquired a strategic stake in Perception Park GmbH, based in Graz (A). The company is consolidated retroactively from 1 October 2018.

Lars Böhrnsen

“We aim to implement the growth and internationalisation strategy announced in connection with the IPO as planned. For two years, we have already enjoyed cooperation with Perception Park that has been trusting and enriching in every respect. We believe that we can add an important technology to our product portfolio, leverage synergies in the future, and above all that our customers will benefit. In addition, we are strengthening our location in Graz, where we founded our wholly owned subsidiary in Austria at the start of June. This investment is therefore predominantly strategic in nature,” says Lars Böhrnsen, CFO of Stemmer AG.

Perception Park also operates in the field of machine vision, with the company’s expertise lying in Chemical Colour Imaging (CCI) software technology. The intuitively configurable data processing platform Perception System & Studio developed by Perception Park renders complex hyperspectral data at the molecular level usable for machine vision. The key technology’s applications encompass the food-processing industry, mining, the healthcare sector and the recycling sector. In comparison with traditional machine vision systems, hyperspectral systems offer a whole spectrum for each pixel instead of a monochrome or colour value. In this way, highly precise colour coordinates, chemical material properties and layer thickness information can be derived from the acquired data. Chemistry is thus rendered visible.

Customers have been benefiting from the intensified cooperation between Stemmer and Perception Park since January 2016. After bolstering the distribution network by acquiring the Dutch Data Vision in January 2018 and the French ELVITEC S.A.S. in July 2018, Stemmer is now investing in an innovative software provider, Perception Park, for the first time. With this investment, Stemmer is enhancing its product portfolio with a pioneering technology of the future with high potential for growth on the market.

The purchase price amounts to a low single-digit million amount.

@stemmerimaging #PAuto @Perception_Park

In line scan cameras.

Stemmer Imaging is now marketing the Teledyne e2v high-performance line scan camera portfolio, including the entry level UNiiQA+ and ELiiXA+ series of multiline CMOS cameras.

Christof Zollitsch, CEO of Stemmer said: “We are delighted to be able to add these high performance cameras to further strengthen our product portfolio. Teledyne e2v is an acknowledged manufacturer of class leading CMOS sensors and line scan cameras and we look forward to a long and productive partnership.”

Jon Kemp, Head of Business Communications at Teledyne e2v commented: “STEMMER IMAGING AG will provide us with an extensive sales network across 19 different countries in Europe. Their experience and knowledge of established and emerging machine vision markets, coupled with their technical excellence will ensure that our line scan cameras will be used in the widest range of applications.”

The Teledyne e2v branded cameras are available in a wide range of formats, in monochrome and Bayer colour versions and with a choice of CameraLink or GigE Vision over NBASE-T (5 Gb/s) interfaces. Together with the Teledyne DALSA camera range, they provide a versatile platform for a wide range of applications. These include surface roughness and scratch detection in glass, paper, metals and textiles; presence control in pharmaceutical inspection; damage detection in rail inspection applications and character recognition in document scanning, parcel and postal sorting.

“This latest agreement further strengthens our relationship with the Teledyne group of companies,” concluded Christof Zollitsch. “For many years we have marketed high quality cameras manufactured by Teledyne DALSA and now we can also take advantage of the expertise provided by Teledyne e2v in line scan camera technology.”

 @stemmerimaging @e2vteledyne #PAuto 

Time-Of-Flight 3D cameras.

Stemmer Imaging has signed an agreement with Odos Imaging for the distribution of Time-Of-Flight (TOF) 3D cameras. The cameras will be available through Stemmer's entire distribution network of 19 different countries in Europe. Odos Imaging is part of Rockwell Automation.

The Starform Swift 3D camera has a 640 x 480 pixels sensor, making it the highest resolution industrial TOF camera currently available. With integrated 850 nm LED illumination, the camera can acquire 3D point clouds for imaging at 44 fps from a range up to 6 metres. These fast frame rates can be used to track dynamic scenes in 3D or accumulate static scenes for improved precision. Fully factory calibrated, the camera can provide range (or depth) information, 3D images and measurements and 2D images.

Mark Williamson, Managing Director of Stemmer's British subsidiary, said: “The Starform Swift TOF 3D camera perfectly complements our current range of 3D cameras and opens up a diverse range of depth perception application opportunities. Our extensive technical expertise in creating complete machine vision solutions will allow us to bring added value in a wide range of industrial markets.”

Its versatile imaging capabilities and GigE Vision connectivity make the Starform Swift ideal for a wide range of factory processing, packaging and logistics applications. These include palletisation/depalletisation and pallet management, carton/object dimensioning and profiling, and package completeness checks. Camera-integrated software packages are available for completeness, height detection and box measurement. The GeniCam interface enables easy integration of Starform Swift cameras into popular machine vision software packages (such as Common Vision Blox) easing the development of machine vision solutions.

Sensors, optics, illumination, processing and power are contained in a ruggedized industrial housing. Infrared band-pass filters prevent unwanted light from reaching the sensor whilst the GPIO interface enables individual triggering and synchronization of multiple cameras.

@stemmerimaging #PAuto @odosimaging

Smart camera with choice of software.

Users can choose, for the first time, the image processing platform that best suits their application needs and be guaranteed a rich range of image processing functionality.

Stemmer Imaging can offer Adlinks's x86 NEON-1021 smart camera pre-loaded with a choice of Teledyne DALSA Sherlock, Stemmer's Common Vision Blox or MVTec Merlic embedded software.

The NEON-1021 features Intel® AtomTM quad core 1.91 GHz processors for increased computing power. FPGA coprocessors and GPU deliver advanced image processing capabilities, both beyond the performance of conventional smart cameras. This allows the camera to process multiple complex inspection tasks simultaneously.

By offering ADLINK NEON smart cameras with a choice of pre-loaded machine vision software, Stemmer Imaging is giving system integrators and developers the option of selecting the development environment that most closely meets their needs. While saving them the time and effort for porting software from other x86 platforms, they can also provide advice on the most suitable image processing platform for developers, if required.

Sherlock is an extremely popular and flexible imaging development environment for vision integrators. Its rich suite of proven vision tools and advanced algorithms can be applied to a wide variety of automated inspection applications, while a graphical point and click program construction enables rapid prototyping. Standard tools within Sherlock include:

• Search (pattern finding)
• ID readers
• Character readers (OCR)
• Measurement and counting tools
• Contour tools
• Texture and colour classifiers.

A variety of speciality tools have also been included to simplify difficult inspection tasks such as the inspection of beads of material or measuring the height profiles of parts using laser lines.

Stemmer’s own Common Vision Blox is a powerful programming library for fast and reliable development and implementation of vision solutions. Common Vision Blox not only provides a range of optimised tools, but also offers the freedom to embed user’s own algorithmic know-how and to implement innovations quickly. These tools for machine vision professionals include:

• Unique tools – premium tools for applications that are not available elsewhere
• Search and read
• 3D analysis
• Recording
• Surface inspection 
• Colour processing

MVTec MERLIC is an all-in-one tool for quickly building machine vision applications with no programming requirement. The PC-based complete software solution features an image- centric user interface, intuitively guiding the user through the application.

The NEON-1021 features 2MP global shutter image sensors. A built-in PWM lighting control module eliminates the need for additional lighting controller equipment, reducing total cost of ownership. Optimized I/O includes one additional slave GigE Vision camera connection, 4x isolated input, 4x isolated output, and VGA output for maximized integration with external devices. Rugged construction with IP67-rated housing and M12 connectors enables the camera to withstand the harshest industrial environments 

@stemmerimaging  #PAuto @ADLINK_Tech 

Vision on show!

Registration is now open for the second day of Stemmer Imaging's Vision Technology Forum at the Silverstone Wing Exhibition and Conference Centre (GB), 15 -16 November 2017. Visitors can choose between the completely free standalone technology day on November 16th, which follows a similar format to the previous Forums, or a two-day package that also includes an in-depth 1-day training course, gala dinner with entertainment and overnight accommodation.

Register Here

This Forum is part of five events being held across Europe. The free to attend Day 2 offers visitors a wide range of opportunities to learn more about machine vision. It is designed to appeal both to newcomers and the most experienced vision practitioners. It combines a rich program of technical seminars, a new Integrator Zone showing real-life applications, hands-on practical taster sessions and a table-top exhibition to provide a unique learning environment.

Visitors can extend their knowledge on state of the art vision technology and the latest developments in machine vision within a very short time period. The day will be packed with technical information and informative live demonstrations, as well as interesting conversations with some of the world’s leading experts in machine vision.

There will be opportunities to learn about current trends such as Industry 4.0 (IoT), Embedded Vision and Deep Learning and how those trends affect machine vision. It also offers an opportunity to see and find out more about Intel’s latest 400 series of RealSense™ 3D imaging technology for embedded applications.

The technical seminar program is as diverse as the Stemmer product range, featuring more than 40 presentations across 6 parallel tracks. The informative lectures contain content from leading international machine vision manufacturers and experts. The full seminar timetable is available on their website. This includes abstracts for each presentation to allow visitors to focus on the topics that are of interest and to create their personal seminar schedule for the day when they register.

For the first time the UK Forum features an Integrator Zone. This gives visitors a chance to see real-world applications in action and meet with experienced vision systems integrators. This is a perfect opportunity to explore the possibilities offered by fully integrated vision solutions.

The ever-popular hands-on practical taster sessions return. Early booking is recommended for these as places go quickly. This year, 3 sessions are available: 3D measurement using the LMI Gocator, ‘a Step by Step guide’; Creating machine vision applications in Teledyne DALSA BOA smart cameras and How to create your first machine vision solution in Sherlock multi camera software.

During both days of the event, around 40 leading machine vision manufacturers will showcase their latest developments, solutions and products in a table-top exhibition. This enables visitors to find out more about the latest innovations and discuss strategies and solutions with the exhibitors.

@stemmerimaging #Pauto #Britain

3D imaging technology camera.

Stemmer Imaging has been appointed as an approved supplier for Intel® RealSense™ technology and will promote and provide support services to accelerate the integration of the latest 400 series of Intel RealSense™ 3D imaging technology into real world applications.

Mark Williamson, Director – Corporate Market Development at Stemmer Imaging, said: “This exciting new technology represents a major development for 3D depth imaging and sets new levels of performance at a price point that opens up the use of 3D imaging to high volume embedded applications. It will have many applications in a wide variety of industries including retail, robotics and drones. The modular approach provides the flexibility to address the needs of many different market segments. In particular it brings 3D perception capabilities to the growing embedded vision sector, with modules optimised for embedded power and performance.”

The new RealSense™ camera 400 series from Intel® is a modular concept that provides depth information and full colour HD images in both indoors and outdoors applications. It utlises proven Intel® depth sensor technology and includes a range of cameras and board level modules with depth computation via a next generation Intel ASIC. The technology supports both PC and embedded applications.

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Change of guard at imaging technology company.

After 44 years, company founder Wilhelm Stemmer is handing the company over to proven successors.

Wilhelm Stemmer with the two newly
appointed managing directors
Christof Zollitsch & Martin Kersting.

Stemmer Imaging achieved turnover of 88.7 million euros over the twelve months of the business year that has just ended. After adjustment for exchange rates, this means a growth of 6 percent for the company, which is active in 19 countries.

"The biggest increase as a percentage was realised by our branches in Finland, the Netherlands and Switzerland", says managing director Christof Zollitsch, explaining the positive result. "It was unfortunate that a substantial growth, especially in the UK but also in Sweden, has been offset due to the depreciation of the local currencies against the Euro."

He said it was particularly pleasing that the portion of turnover attributable to customer services had increased further in the preceding year. "We have extensive resources in this area that enable us to significantly reduce the effort that our customers have to put in to solve their image processing tasks. Our range of services increases our customers' profitability and thus represents a major criterion for co-operating with Stemmer as a preferred partner for all aspects of image processing."

The close of the business year 2016/17 also represents the end of an era: Company founder Wilhelm Stemmer has sold his shares in the company and is retiring from the operative business. 75.04%  of the shares are now held by Munich-based AL-KO AG, parent company of the internationally active AL-KO KOBER SE. As part of the transaction, the proven management team acquired 24.96% of the shares.

"I have been an entrepreneur for 44 years and am now 73 years old. It was time for me to find a sustainable succession plan to ensure the continuation of my life's work", says Wilhelm Stemmer, explaining why he has taken this step. "With AL-KO AG as the majority owner, Stemmer Imaging will continue to be able to tap into future markets and expand them further. From now on Martin Kersting, who has been a partner in the business until now, will control the fortunes of the company as managing director together with Christof Zollitsch, who I also appointed managing director back in 2001. So I know that the company is in the best hands for the future and I wish both of them and indeed the entire workforce all the best for the future."

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Examining components with shiny & diffusely-scattering surfaces.

The new Trevista X4 models from Stemmer Imaging,  utilise a patented 2.5D process, called Shape from Shading, and are especially suited to the examination of components with shiny and diffusely-scattering surfaces. Surface defects such as scratches, burrs, dents, discolouration or grinding marks, even if only a few micrometres deep can be detected with significantly greater certainty with this process than with conventional image processing systems.

The X-4 generation offers structured, diffuse dome illumination that is brighter by a factor of 2.5 compared with the previous models, enabling faster image acquisition. For a typical image size of 4 Mpixels, evaluation using the Trevista algorithm takes place around 20 % faster than before, which results in potentially lower cycle times.

Depending on the application, the new models also provide a measuring field that is larger by up to 50 %. In the smallest version, the diameter of the measuring field is increased from 20 to 30 mm and in the medium-sized variant from 50 to 75 mm, without any change to the physical mating dimensions of the lighting domes. The largest Trevista variant continues to have a measuring field diameter of 200 mm.

The system controller has been reduced to approximately 30 % of the installation space of its predecessor. In addition, the controller electronics have been completely reworked and temperature monitoring of the lighting and the controller has been integrated. To simplify installation and operation, a parameter setting tool is provided to set up the system.

The new CVS Trevista X4 models can be supplied as complete systems. In addition to the lighting unit, they also include the appropriate lens for the particular application, the matching camera, a PC and a choice of software packages between Sherlock from Teledyne DALSA or Stemmer’s own Common Vision Blox library.

The industry-standard design of all Trevista models enables easy integration into the production process. The complete systems are assembled in accordance with customer requirements and delivered fully tested, thus enabling users quickly to put them into service in their installation. For effective on-the-job training on Trevista systems, Stemmer Imaging provides special courses at the European Imaging Academy.

CVS Trevista Surface and CVS Trevista Cylinder can be used for the inspection of flat, stationary component surfaces or cylindrical shell surfaces respectively. CVS Trevista Multiline is used for the examination of components in rotational or translational motion.

 @stemmerimaging #PAuto

Sensor for verification and inspection.

The new Boa Spot ID is a low cost identification vision sensor from Teledyne DALSA that combines 1D/2D code reading with OCR and verification tools for a host of product identification, verification and tracking applications. It can handle up to 45 parts/second. It is marketed by Stemmer.

Supplied with integrated lighting and choices of sensor resolution, lenses and software tools, Boa Spot ID can be used for part and product traceability, reading product codes to avoid labeling mix-ups, and validating product type, lot and expiration date codes. It can also be used to check that markings and label positions are correct and the presence or absence of features as well as checking assembly history at every stage of manufacturing.

The extraordinary flexibility of the Boa Spot ID enables the appropriate model to be matched to the application, based on the code reading requirements. The choice of 2 sensor resolutions, integrated red, white or blue LED ring lighting and 4 integrated lenses or 6-50 mm external C-mount lenses allows the field of view, magnification and reading distances to be precisely matched to the particular 1D and 2D code size and type.

The standard toolset provides fast, robust decoding of most 1D barcode and 2D matrix code symbologies and verifies the quality of the code against ISO/AIM industry standards. It reliably reads Data Matrix and QR codes even with damaged or missing finder patterns as well as poorly printed, low contrast, noisy, warped and damaged barcodes. It can also decode multiple barcodes in the same image. The expanded toolset includes an advanced algorithm which offers greater robustness for decoding marks etched or dot peened on plastic or metallic surfaces. The standard toolset can be field upgraded to the expanded version if required.

The expanded toolset also offers additional tools for applications that require more than just code reading. These include match, edge, verify and graphics tools. The Match tool is used to verify patterns such as logos or locate features on a product or package. The Edge tool is used for determining label position or alignment or to determine the number of products in a package. The Verify tool can be trained on a series of good samples in order to verify product features, such as labels or logos. It can also detect defects on labels caused by poor printing, ink stains, scuffs or tears. The Graphics tool enables text to be added to a runtime image for example to inform operators what to do in case of error.

The Boa Spot is a slimline integrated IP67 solution with flexible mounting options allowing it to be mounted in very small spaces. It provides versatile I/O for control and interfacing and built-in Ethernet factory communication protocols.

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