Summary of the content on the page No. 1
NI Vision
NI PCI-1426 User Manual
Base Configuration Camera Link Image Acquisition Device
NI PCI-1426 User Manual
February 2007
374040C-01
Summary of the content on the page No. 2
Support Worldwide Technical Support and Product Information ni.com National Instruments Corporate Headquarters 11500 North Mopac Expressway Austin, Texas 78759-3504 USA Tel: 512 683 0100 Worldwide Offices Australia 1800 300 800, Austria 43 662 457990-0, Belgium 32 (0) 2 757 0020, Brazil 55 11 3262 3599, Canada 800 433 3488, China 86 21 6555 7838, Czech Republic 420 224 235 774, Denmark 45 45 76 26 00, Finland 385 (0) 9 725 72511, France 33 (0) 1 48 14 24 24, Germany 49 89 7413130, India 91 80
Summary of the content on the page No. 3
Important Information Warranty The NI PCI-1426 is warranted against defects in materials and workmanship for a period of one year from the date of shipment, as evidenced by receipts or other documentation. National Instruments will, at its option, repair or replace equipment that proves to be defective during the warranty period. This warranty includes parts and labor. The media on which you receive National Instruments software are warranted not to fail to execute programming instructions,
Summary of the content on the page No. 4
Compliance Compliance with FCC/Canada Radio Frequency Interference Regulations Determining FCC Class The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has rules to protect wireless communications from interference. The FCC places digital electronics into two classes. These classes are known as Class A (for use in industrial-commercial locations only) or Class B (for use in residential or commercial locations). All National Instruments (NI) products are FCC Class A products. Depending on where it
Summary of the content on the page No. 5
Conventions The following conventions are used in this manual: <> Angle brackets that contain numbers separated by an ellipsis represent a range of values associated with a bit or signal name—for example, AO <3..0>. This icon denotes a note, which alerts you to important information. bold Bold text denotes items that you must select or click in the software, such as menu items and dialog box options. Bold text also denotes parameter names. italic Italic text denotes variables, emphasis, a c
Summary of the content on the page No. 6
Contents Chapter 1 Introduction Software Overview ........................................................................................................1-2 NI-IMAQ Driver Software..............................................................................1-2 National Instruments Application Software ....................................................1-2 Vision Builder for Automated Inspection.........................................1-3 Vision Development Module .............................
Summary of the content on the page No. 7
Contents Appendix A Cabling Appendix B Technical Support and Professional Services Glossary Index NI PCI-1426 User Manual viii ni.com
Summary of the content on the page No. 8
1 Introduction The NI 1426 is an interface device that supports a diverse range of Camera Link-compatible cameras. The NI 1426 acquires digital images in real time and stores the images in onboard frame memory or transfers them directly to system memory. Featuring a high-speed data flow path, the NI 1426 is ideal for both industrial and scientific environments. The NI 1426 is easy to install and configure. It ships with NI-IMAQ, the National Instruments complete Vision driver software you c
Summary of the content on the page No. 9
Chapter 1 Introduction Software Overview Programming the NI 1426 requires the NI-IMAQ driver software for controlling the hardware. National Instruments also offers the following application software packages for analyzing and processing your acquired images. � Vision Builder for Automated Inspection—Allows you to configure solutions to common inspection tasks. � Vision Development Module—Provides customized control over hardware and algorithms. NI-IMAQ Driver Software The NI-IMAQ driver s
Summary of the content on the page No. 10
Chapter 1 Introduction Vision Builder for Automated Inspection NI Vision Builder for Automated Inspection (AI) is configurable machine vision software that you can use to prototype, benchmark, and deploy applications. Vision Builder AI does not require programming, but is scalable to powerful programming environments. Vision Builder AI allows you to easily configure and benchmark a sequence of visual inspection steps, as well as deploy the visual inspection system for automated inspection.
Summary of the content on the page No. 11
Chapter 1 Introduction LabVIEW VI creation wizard, Vision Assistant can create LabVIEW VI diagrams that perform the prototype you created in Vision Assistant. You can then use LabVIEW to add functionality to the generated VI. Integration with DAQ and Motion Platforms that support NI-IMAQ also support NI-DAQ and a variety of National Instruments DAQ devices. This allows integration between image acquisition devices and National Instruments DAQ devices. Use National Instruments high-performanc
Summary of the content on the page No. 12
2 Hardware Overview This chapter provides an overview of NI 1426 hardware functionality and explains the operations of the NI 1426 functional units. Functional Overview The NI 1426 features a flexible, high-speed data path optimized for receiving and formatting video data from Camera Link cameras. Figure 2-1 illustrates the key functional components of the NI 1426. Synchronous Dynamic RAM Data Data SDRAM Data Interface Enables Channel PCI Interface Link Pixel Clock and Camera Enables and Rece
Summary of the content on the page No. 13
Chapter 2 Hardware Overview Camera Link and the NI 1426 The NI 1426 supports the Camera Link Base configuration. Base Configuration The Camera Link Base configuration places 24 data bits and four enable signals (Frame Valid, Line Valid, Data Valid, and a spare) on a single Channel Link part and cable. The Base configuration includes asynchronous serial transmission as well as four digital camera control lines for controlling exposure time, frame rates, and other camera control signals. These
Summary of the content on the page No. 14
Chapter 2 Hardware Overview Hardware Binarization The NI 1426 supports binarization and inverse binarization. Binarization and inverse binarization segment an image into two regions: a particle region and a background region. Use binarization and inverse binarization to isolate objects of interest in an image. To separate objects under consideration from the background, select a pixel value range. This pixel value range is known as the gray-level interval, or the threshold interval. Binariz
Summary of the content on the page No. 15
Chapter 2 Hardware Overview Multiple-Tap Data Formatter Many digital cameras transfer multiple taps, or channels, of data simultaneously to increase the frame rate of the camera. However, the data in each tap may not be transferred in the traditional top-left to bottom-right direction. Also, the taps may not transfer data in the same direction. The multiple-tap data formatting circuitry on the NI 1426 can reorder the data from up to three taps. The data from each tap can be independently sc
Summary of the content on the page No. 16
Chapter 2 Hardware Overview Table 2-1. Trigger Configuration Options for the NI 1426 Single-ended Alternative Trigger Number Input/Output Input Only 0 TTL_TRIG(0) ISO_IN(0) 1 TTL_TRIG(1) ISO_IN(1) 2 TTL_TRIG(2) RS422_IN(0) 3 TTL_TRIG(3) RS422_IN(1) Note If not configured as single-ended I/O lines, triggers have input only capability. Wiring an Isolated Input to Output Devices You can wire an isolated input to both sourcing and sinking output devices. Refer to Figures 2-3 and 2-4 for wiring exa
Summary of the content on the page No. 17
Chapter 2 Hardware Overview Sensor Power Vcc IN+ Current Limiter NPN (Sinking) Output Device IN– NI 1426 Sensor Common Figure 2-4. Example of Connecting an Isolated Input to a Sinking Output Device Connecting to a Quadrature Encoder The NI 1426 accepts differential (RS-422) line driver inputs. Shielded encoder cables are recommended for all applications. Unshielded cables are more susceptible to noise and can corrupt the encoder signals. Refer to Figure 2-5 for an example of connecting diffe
Summary of the content on the page No. 18
Chapter 2 Hardware Overview High-Speed Timing Built from high-speed counters, the high-speed timing circuitry on the NI 1426 can generate precise real-time control signals for your camera. Map the output of this circuitry to a trigger line to provide accurate pulses and pulse trains. Map these control signals to the camera control lines to control exposure time and frame rate. Note For your convenience, the external control for cameras that support the NI 1426 has been preprogrammed into th
Summary of the content on the page No. 19
Chapter 2 Hardware Overview Scatter-Gather DMA Controllers The NI 1426 uses three independent onboard direct memory access (DMA) controllers. The DMA controllers transfer data between the onboard SDRAM memory buffers and the PCI bus. Each of these controllers supports scatter-gather DMA, which allows the DMA controller to reconfigure on-the-fly. The NI 1426 can perform continuous image transfers directly to either contiguous or fragmented memory buffers. Bus Master PCI Interface The NI 1426
Summary of the content on the page No. 20
Chapter 2 Hardware Overview Serial Interface The NI 1426 provides serial connections to and from the camera through two LVDS pairs in the Camera Link cable. All Camera Link serial communication uses one start bit, one stop bit, no parity, and no hardware handshaking. The NI 1426 supports the following baud rates: 56000, 38400, 19200, 9600, 7200, 4800, 3600, 2400, 2000, 1800, 1200, 600, and 300 bps. You can use the serial interface interactively with MAX and clsercon.exe, or programmatically
