Teledyne Dalsa has announced that its Boa smart cameras now support Profinet IO, a high-level network for industrial automation applications. Built using standard Ethernet technologies, Profinet IO defines a network structure for exchanging data, alarms and diagnostics with programmable controllers and other automation controllers on the factory floor.
The Boa smart camera is a highly integrated optical inspection tool for controlling quality and increasing productivity. The camera offers scalable vision solutions to satisfy a wide range of application needs from positioning robotic handlers to complete assembly verifications.
In the Profinet world, the camera is classified as an IO-device described by a GSD (Generic Station Description) file, The GSD file provides the IO-controller with a basis for planning the configuration of a Profinet IO system and the defined IO modules in Boa are available for use by the control program. Configuring Boa for Profinet is a simple matter of selecting if from a drop-down list of supported communication protocols in the iNspect Express user interface.
