RFQ / Cognex

The camera is the cheap part. The job file is the product. A vision system that has been running for eight years holds an inspection setup that somebody spent days developing, and if it exists only inside the camera you are one failure away from redeveloping it.

Cognex is on packaging lines, food plants, print and label inspection and traceability systems across New Zealand. A lot of the installed base is older In-Sight hardware still doing exactly what it was commissioned to do.

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Reference pages

The families

In-Sight generations

DataMan code readers

The job file is the asset

The most important thing on this page, and the reason a vision failure is worse than it looks.

An In-Sight camera holds a job: the inspection tools, their positions, the thresholds, the pass and fail logic, the calibration and the communication mapping to the PLC.

Redeveloping a vision job is not a parts problem, it is a specialist engineering job. Somebody has to work out the tolerances again, and they were originally arrived at by running product through and adjusting until the reject rate was right.

So back the job files up now, while the cameras work. They are small files, the software will export them, and it takes an afternoon for a whole plant.

This is the same principle as the parameter copies and PLC programs elsewhere on this site, and on vision it is the version with the highest replacement cost.

Version matching is a real constraint

Worth understanding before you buy a replacement camera.

The camera firmware and the development software are tied together, and a job file made on a newer version may not open on an older one.

So tell us what version your software is, and we will tell you whether the camera we are quoting will work with it or whether the firmware needs attention.

And do not upgrade a working system's software casually. Once a job is saved in a newer format, going back is awkward, and a plant with several cameras can end up needing everything upgraded together.

The lens and the lighting decide whether it works

The part people underestimate, and it accounts for most vision systems that never worked properly.

A vision system that struggles is far more often a lighting problem than a camera problem. Consistent, controlled lighting is what makes an inspection repeatable, and ambient light changing through the day is a classic cause of a system that works in the morning and fails in the afternoon.

So if an inspection has become unreliable, look at the light before the camera. LED illuminators dim with age, lenses get dusty or splashed, and somebody may have changed a light fitting above the line.

We supply lighting, lenses, filters and mounting hardware as well as cameras. Tell us what you are inspecting and we will quote the arrangement rather than just the part.

A different camera changes the picture

Specific and frequently overlooked.

If the sensor is a different size or resolution, the same lens gives a different field of view. So a higher specification camera fitted to the same mount, at the same distance, sees a different amount of the product.

So an upgrade is a recommissioning job, not a swap. A like-for-like camera loads the existing job and runs. A better camera means the inspection is set up again.

Both are legitimate. On a line that works and has no engineering budget, like-for-like is very often the cheaper answer, and that is where obsolete and surplus hardware earns its keep.

Cables and breakout modules are separate parts

The most common omission on a vision order.

On many installations the camera does not wire directly to the panel. A breakout module carries the trigger input, the pass and fail outputs and the power, and it is an easy thing to forget when the camera is what failed.

Tell us whether you need the cabling and the breakout, or whether the existing ones stay in place.

What communication the PLC expects

The communication setup is part of the job, including which data goes where in the PLC's memory. A replacement camera at defaults will not talk to the PLC until that is restored, which is another reason the job backup matters.

Note the camera's IP address before removing it. A correct camera at the wrong address is invisible to the line.

Code reading, and why a reader stops reading

Useful, because the answer is usually not the reader.

Two things worth knowing when replacing a reader.

Autofocus is not universal. Some readers focus themselves and handle products at varying distance, and some are set to a fixed focus. Replacing an autofocusing reader with a fixed focus one produces intermittent reads on anything that is not at a consistent height.

Direct part marks are a different job from printed labels. A dotted or etched code needs particular lighting to be readable at all, so a reader specified for labels will struggle on marked parts.

Tell us what the code is on, how fast the line runs and whether product height varies.

Before ordering a replacement

What to send us

The model number off the camera or reader.

A photo of the installation, showing the mounting, the lighting and the working distance.

What software version you have.

Whether you have the job file backed up.

What it inspects or reads, and how fast the line runs.

How it talks to the PLC.

Whether you need cables, lighting, lens or the breakout module.

What we can supply

Vision systems. In-Sight across the current and obsolete generations, as new, surplus and tested used.

Code readers. DataMan fixed mount and handheld.

Optics and lighting. Lenses, ring and bar lights, filters, polarisers and light controllers.

Accessories. Power and I/O cables, Ethernet cables, breakout and I/O modules, mounting brackets and protective housings.

Like-for-like on obsolete hardware. Which is frequently the difference between loading an existing job file and paying for a vision integrator.

The one habit worth adopting

Export and store the job file from every camera on the plant, and note the software version it was made with.

It costs an afternoon and nothing else. With it, a failed camera is a swap. Without it, a failed camera is an engineering project with a line stopped in the middle of it.

Keep the files somewhere other than the laptop they were made on, along with a photograph of the camera mounting and lighting arrangement.

We buy Cognex

In-Sight and DataMan hold value, because the hardware is expensive new and the older generations are still doing real work.

Keep lenses, lighting, cables and breakout modules with the camera they came off. A complete working arrangement is worth considerably more than a bare camera, and it is far more useful to the next plant. See Sell To Us.

Common questions

Can you get a part that is not listed on your site?
Usually. The site shows what we hold, not what we can source.

Can I just fit a newer camera?
It will run, but a different sensor or resolution changes the field of view and the calibration, so the inspection needs setting up again.

My job file will not load.
Usually a firmware and software version mismatch. Tell us both versions.

The inspection has got unreliable.
Look at lighting, lens cleanliness and ambient light before the camera.

Do cables come with the camera?
No. Power, I/O and Ethernet cables and any breakout module are separate parts.

Do you supply used equipment?
Yes, tested before it ships. On obsolete In-Sight it is often the only way to keep an existing job file in service.

What is the lead time?
Ex stock items ship the next working day within New Zealand. We give you a firm lead time with the quote.

Do you quote in NZD?
Yes, in NZD including GST for New Zealand customers.

Related

Cognex In-Sight for the detail on generations, job files and optics.

We also supply Keyence, Datalogic, Omron and Banner vision and code reading. Send the model number and we will quote whichever the line uses.

For the sensors triggering the camera see SICK, Leuze and Omron. For the PLC reading the result see Allen-Bradley and Siemens.

Send us your model numbers

And tell us whether the job file is backed up. That answer changes what a replacement costs you more than the camera choice does. Quotes in NZD including GST.

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Industech is an independent supplier of new, surplus and used industrial automation equipment. We are not an authorised distributor of, approved by, sanctioned by, or affiliated with Cognex. Cognex, In-Sight, DataMan, Checker and VisionPro are trademarks of Cognex Corporation. EtherNet/IP is a trademark of ODVA. PROFINET is a trademark of PROFIBUS Nutzerorganisation. All trademarks, brand names and model numbers are the property of their respective owners and are used here for identification purposes only.