Using USB3 Vision Cameras with HALCON 11 in Windows

Transcription

1 Using USB3 Vision Cameras with HALCON 11 in Windows Technical Application Note TAN Revised Applicable Products 2 Application Note Description 2 Preparing for Use 2 Understanding USB3 Vision 3 Installation and Configuration 4 System Requirements 4 Step 1 Install Third-Party USB3 Vision Software 4 Step 2 Connect the Camera 4 Step 3 Install Third-Party Driver 4 Running Third-Party Software 6 Configuring Camera Properties 7 Capturing Images 8 USB 3.1 Chunk Data 9 USB3 Vision Troubleshooting Tips 10 Common USB 3.1 Issues 10 Known FlyCapture Issues 10 What to do if my camera appears in FlyCapture2 but not in third-party software? 10 Downloads and Support 15 Finding Information 15 Contacting Technical Support 15 Names and marks appearing on the products herein are either registered trademarks or trademarks of FLIR Systems, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries FLIR

2 Applicable Products All FLIR machine vision USB3 Vision cameras Application Note Description This application note provides information on how to configure and use FLIR machine vision USB3 Vision cameras. This document helps users understand the basics of USB3 Vision, and how to use USB3 Vision cameras with third-party USB3 Vision software. Note: This document provides examples using MVTec HALCON 11 HDevelop application. Preparing for Use Before you use your camera, we recommend that you are aware of the following resources available from our downloads page: Getting Started Manual for the camera provides information on installing components and software needed to run the camera. Technical Reference for the camera provides information on the camera s specifications, features and operations, as well as imaging and acquisition controls. Firmware updates ensure you are using the most up-to-date firmware for the camera to take advantage of improvements and fixes. Tech Insights Subscribe to our monthly updates containing information on new knowledge base articles, new firmware and software releases, and Product Change Notices (PCN). Using USB3 Vision Cameras with HALCON 11 in Windows 2

3 Understanding USB3 Vision USB3 Vision is a communication interface for vision applications based on the USB 3.1 technology. All cameras supporting USB3 Vision interact the same way with software also supporting USB3 Vision. The USB3 Vision standard defines required elements for camera identification, control, and output. Like GigE Vision, it uses GenICam, a programming interface for camera attribute control. GenICam allows camera vendors to define features and attributes in an XML file stored inside the camera. The file is parsed by the host application when the camera is initially discovered. One of the key benefits of GenICam is the ability for camera vendors to introduce new camera-specific features without needing to update the host application. Each camera attribute, such as exposure time, is controlled by a specific GenICam feature. Most USB3 Vision applications provide a Graphical User Interface (GUI) to control these attributes. For more information on the USB3 Vision standard, visit visiononline.org. For more information on GenICam, visit emva.org. Using USB3 Vision Cameras with HALCON 11 in Windows 3

4 Installation and Configuration System Requirements USB 3.1 interface card (for supported USB 3.1 configurations see TAN ) FLIR USB 3.1 camera with USB3 Vision firmware (firmware available from our Downloads page) USB3 Vision compliant software the example used in this document is MVTec s HALCON 11 HDevelop application Before using a USB3 Vision camera with a third-party application, complete the following steps: 1. Install the third-party USB3 Vision software. 2. Plug in the camera to the USB 3.1 host controller. 3. Install the third-party USB 3.1 camera driver. The following sections provide more detail. Step 1 Install Third-Party USB3 Vision Software The example used in this document is MVTec s HALCON 11 HDevelop application. HALCON 11 contains the required USB3 Vision camera driver and the user interface for controlling camera attributes. Users are encouraged to use the latest USB3 Vision interface from HALCON. We tested revision 5.2 of HALCON s USB3 Vision interface. Step 2 Connect the Camera Using a USB 3.1 cable, connect the camera to the USB 3.1 host controller on the PC. Step 3 Install Third-Party Driver To install MVTec s USB3 Vision driver: 1. Ensure the camera has powered up. 2. Open MVTec s HDevelop -> Assistants -> Open New Image Acquisition 3. The below message pops up to request permission to install USB3 driver. Using USB3 Vision Cameras with HALCON 11 in Windows 4

5 4. In the Image Acquisition window, on the Connection tab click Connect. 5. A new command line window pops up and installs the USB3 driver. The USB3 driver path is located at: x64 OS - C:\Program Files\MVTec\HALCON-11.0\bin\x64-win64\hAcqUSB3Vision.dll OS - C:\Program Files\MVTec\HALCON-11.0\bin\ x86sse2-win32\hacqusb3vision.dll MVTec s USB3 driver appears in device manager as follows: Using USB3 Vision Cameras with HALCON 11 in Windows 5

6 Running Third-Party Software FLIR machine vision USB3 Vision cameras work with Spinnaker SDK, FlyCapture 2 SDK or third-party USB3 Vision applications. Note: This document provides examples using MVTec HALCON 11 HDevelop application. To access the camera in HDevelop: 1. Open Image Acquisition window. HDevelop -> Assistants -> Open New Image Acquisition 2. From the Source tab, click Auto-detect Interfaces and select USB3Vision from the drop down box on the right. 3. Under the Connection tab, click Connect. 4. Click Live to start streaming the camera. Using USB3 Vision Cameras with HALCON 11 in Windows 6

7 Configuring Camera Properties To configure various camera properties: 1. In the Image Acquisition window, go to the Parameters tab. 2. Select the specific category of interest from the All Parameters drop down box. Note: If Update Image is checked, HALCON reacquires a new image if any camera property changes. 3. Some settings require refreshing the Image Acquisition window to appear. For example, changing GainAuto from Continuous to Off does not show the Gain parameter until you click the Refresh button. Using USB3 Vision Cameras with HALCON 11 in Windows 7

8 Capturing Images To capture images in free running mode: 1. Ensure trigger mode is turned off. 2. In the image acquisition window go to Category -> AcquisitionControl -> TriggerMode -> Off 3. Set AcquisitionMode to Continuous. 4. In the image acquisition window go to Category -> AcquisitionControl -> AcquisitionMode -> Continuous 5. Click Live to start capturing images in free running mode. To capture images using triggers: 1. Ensure trigger mode is turned on. 2. In the image acquisition window go to Category -> AcquisitionControl -> TriggerMode -> On 3. Verify the hardware trigger source is wired correctly. Frame Start the camera starts integration from the trigger defined by the Trigger Source and Trigger Activation and the integration time is defined by the Exposure Time value. Exposure Active the camera starts integration from the Trigger Activation and the integration time is equal to the state time of the trigger input. Using USB3 Vision Cameras with HALCON 11 in Windows 8

9 USB 3.1 Chunk Data 4. Click Live to start capturing images using hardware trigger Support for Chunk Data Stream is part of the USB3 Vision standard. Chunk Data Stream allows images to have chunks of additional data such as time stamp or frame counter. To enable Chunk Data Stream: 1. In the Image Acquisition window, on the Parameters tab, select Category ChunkDataControl and select Visibility Guru. 2. Set ChunkModeActive to Select ChunkSelector to choose the desired data to include in the payload of the image. 4. Set ChunkEnable to 1. To view the enabled chunk data: 1. In the Image Acquisition window, on the Parameters tab, select Category ChunkData and select Visibility Guru. 2. The enabled chunk data shows as read-only parameters. Note: Updating of read-only parameters can be done by clicking Refresh in the Image Acquisition window. Using USB3 Vision Cameras with HALCON 11 in Windows 9

10 USB3 Vision Troubleshooting Tips Common USB 3.1 Issues The following is a list of useful USB 3.1 knowledge base articles to help you troubleshoot common USB 3.1 issues. KB10019 USB 3.1 Frequently Asked Questions TAN Recommended USB 3.1 system components TAN Extending the working distance of USB 3.1 cameras Known FlyCapture Issues To use the FLIR machine vision USB3 Vision cameras, we recommend FlyCapture 2.5 SDK or later. FlyCapture 2.4 SDK may work with USB3 Vision cameras, but we have not done extensive testing with this pairing and cannot guarantee results. FlyCapture 2.3 SDK and earlier versions do not work with USB3 Vision cameras. What to do if my camera appears in FlyCapture2 but not in third-party software? Ensure the camera has the correct firmware installed The USB3 Vision standard was established after the launch of FLIR's machine vision USB 3.1 cameras. USB3 Vision support started from the following firmware versions: To determine your camera s firmware version: 1. Ensure the camera has powered up. Camera Flea3 USB 3.1 Firmware and newer Grasshopper3 USB and newer 2. Open the FlyCap2 program, installed with the FlyCapture2 SDK. Start menuàall ProgramsàPoint Grey FlyCapture2 SDKàPoint Grey FlyCap2 Using USB3 Vision Cameras with HALCON 11 in Windows 10

11 The firmware version is displayed in the Camera Selection window, as well as on the Camera Information tab of the Camera Control dialog. If the firmware of the camera does not support USB3 Vision, you can update the firmware to the latest version. To update your camera s firmware version: 1. Download the firmware file from our Downloads page. 2. Ensure the camera has powered up. 3. Open the UpdatorGUI utility, installed with FlyCapture2 SDK. Start menuàall ProgramsàPoint Grey FlyCapture2 SDKàUtilitiesàUpdatorGUI3 Using USB3 Vision Cameras with HALCON 11 in Windows 11

12 4. Select the camera from the Camera List 5. Click Open to select the firmware file. 6. Click Update to begin the update process. Do NOT disconnect the camera until the update is complete. Ensure the USB 3.1 host controller is using the manufacturer s driver Third-party USB3 Vision applications come with their own device driver, which needs to be installed for the camera. To install the third-party device driver for the camera, the USB 3.1 host controller must be configured to use the manufacturer s driver, and not the FLIR USBPro driver (pgrxhci). If using Windows 8, the Windows driver can also be used. Note: If the USB 3.1 host controller is configured to use the USBPro driver you are not able to install the third-party camera driver. To determine which driver the USB 3.1 host controller is using, open DriverControlGUI and click on the USB tab. Start menuàall ProgramsàPoint Grey FlyCapture2 SDKàUtilitiesàDriverControlGUI If the host controller is configured for the USBPro driver, the camera does not appear as a separate device. Using USB3 Vision Cameras with HALCON 11 in Windows 12

13 In the figures to the right: A. Shows a Renesas USB 3 Extensible Host Controller with the USBPro driver installed. The camera is not shown. B. Shows a Flea3 camera as a separate device listing running with a Renesas USB 3.1 Host Controller with the manufacturer s driver installed. The camera and card are listed as two separate devices. If your USB 3.1 host controller is using the USBPro driver, you can change this using the DriverControlGUI. To change the driver of the USB 3.1 host controller: 1. Ensure the camera has powered up. 2. Open the DriverControlGUI utility, installed with the FlyCapture2 SDK. Start menuàall ProgramsàPoint Grey FlyCapture2 SDKàUtilitiesàDriverControlGUI 3. Click on the USB tab. 4. From the PC tree, select the host controller. 5. Under Driver Selection, select Third-Party Drivers, and select the driver from the drop-down. If there is more than one listed, select the latest version for the manufacturer. Using USB3 Vision Cameras with HALCON 11 in Windows 13

14 6. If no driver is listed, select Manual Selection and click Browse to find the host controller s driver on your computer. 7. Click Install Driver. Note: You can also use Windows Device Manager to install drivers on host controllers and cameras. Using USB3 Vision Cameras with HALCON 11 in Windows 14

15 Downloads and Support FLIR endeavors to provide the highest level of technical support possible to our customers. Most support resources can be accessed through the Support section of our website. The first step in accessing our technical support resources is to obtain a Customer Login Account. This requires a valid name and address. To apply for a Customer Login Account go to our Downloads page. Customers with a Customer Login Account can access the latest software and firmware for their cameras from our website. We encourage our customers to keep their software and firmware up-to-date by downloading and installing the latest versions. Finding Information FlyCapture SDK The FlyCapture SDK provides API examples and the FlyCap camera evaluation application. Available from our Downloads page. API Documentation The installation of the FlyCapture SDK comes with API references for C++, C#, and C code. Available from Start Menu All Programs Point Grey FlyCapture2 SDK Documentation Product Documentation The camera's Getting Started Manual provides information on installing components and software needed to run the camera. The Technical Reference provides information on the camera s specifications, features and operations, as well as imaging and acquisition controls. They are available from the Downloads page. Knowledge Base A database of articles and application notes with answers to common questions as well as articles and tutorials about hardware and software systems. Available from our Knowledge Base. Learning Center Our Learning Center contains links to many resources including videos, case studies, popular topics, other application notes, and information on sensor technology. Contacting Technical Support Before contacting Technical Support, have you: 1. Read the product documentation? 2. Searched the Knowledge Base? 3. Downloaded and installed the latest version of software and/or firmware? If you have done all the above and still can t find an answer to your question, contact our Technical Support team. Using USB3 Vision Cameras with HALCON 11 in Windows 15