AutoCal
One of the challenges faced by new and experienced vision users is calibrating their systems from the Pixel world of the camera to the real world units and measurements of everyday. In other words, knowing the size of an object in pixels isn't terribly useful. You want to know how large it is in inches, feet, meters or mm. This calibration can be something very simple such as determining the approximate size of each pixel and multiplying all vision system results by this scaling factor. Or it can be something very sophisticated involving hundreds of input locations that can even determine and compensate for imperfections and distortions in the very lenses you are using.
For most systems, a simple four point calibration is more than adequate. As we looked at the products available for this type of calibration, we saw two major issues. First the field of view (FOV) of the camera is almost always rectangular and the "standard" calibration plates are almost always square. This means in a best case scenario, you are wasting almost 30% of your pixel data. Second, for most systems we have so far encountered, you must create this calibration routine on your own. What a pain!
Thus, AutoCal was born. AutoCal consists of three components. The first is a user manual in an Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format that includes the AutoCal target. (Get Adobe Reader®) It also includes an In-Sight Job developed with In-Sight explorer version 3.2.0. It may not be compatible with earlier In-sight versions/firmware.
Currently, we have developed AutoCal for Cognex's In-Sight Vision System. However, we are interested porting this application to other machine vision platforms, so please check back often for updates. Or if you have a special request, let us know and we'll do our best to get it out for you.
So what is the best part about AutoCal? The best part is it is free to anybody who is interested in downloading and using it. Please read and abide by our Terms & Conditions below. The link to download AutoCal is below. [Note: AutoCal is still in Beta stage; we are finalizing the software. By registering, you allow us to contact you when enhancements have been made to this useful utility.]
Terms and Conditions
Our Terms and Conditions were not written by a lawyer, so you probably won't need yours to take advantage of AutoCal. We have some simple requests we would like you to follow:
- You may not remove our name or contact information from our product. We worked hard to develop this package and would appreciate credit being given where it is due. This is a gift to you...we would just like you to remember where it came from!
- You may not resell or redistribute this product without our permission. Original Equipment Manufactures, vision systems manufacturers, other Systems Integrators and Consultants are more than welcome to share our gift with your customers. We'd just like you to ask us before you put it on your web site, attach it to mass e-mails, etc.
- If you add features or additional code to this program, and would like to charge for that, you may.
Please register with us below. We will not sell or in any way distribute your information to a third party. If you cannot see the form below, you may register here.
