Dalsa Linea Line Scan Camera

The Dalsa Linea line scan camera is parameterized in EasySightPro®ing the setup wizard. This takes over the correct configuration of all camera functions in the background.

Information: The assignment of the inputs and outputs can be found under Hardware/Cameras/Dalsa Linea.

Setting up the camera

The camera settings are automatically set by the setup wizard and do not have to be inserted in the program management. The setup wizard is started via the "Live Image" button of the respective camera station.

To set up, it is best to follow the menu sequence and set up as follows.

Menu "Live"

Menu	Description
Setup	Activates the setup and thus bypasses the encoder parameters. The camera thereby picks out the lines with an internal frequency.
Reduce height	This sets the image height fixed to 100 lines to make the live image look smoother.
New acquisition	Captures 1 new image.
Start continous	Enables/disables a permanent live image.
Image counter	Indicates with a revolving counter that images are being captured.
Exposure	Exposure in milliseconds. The maximum exposure is 0.09ms.
Contrast	Brightness gain scaled from 0 - 1. 0 ... low image noise / dark image. 1 ... strong image noise / bright image
Illumination	Activates the corresponding lighting outputs.
Pulse	Pulse delay of the flash pulse in (microseconds). If the lighting is switched via an optocoupler, then the delay should not be less than the effective recording time.

The image sharpness can be adjusted quite well by positioning the component under the camera and switching the camera to the continuous live image. This produces an image in which a complete vertical line is always displayed.

In this state, the image can be focused to maximum sharpness.

Menu "Encoder"

Menu	Description
Hardware encoder	Switches between hardware encoder and software encoder.
Software encoder	Internal frequency of the software encoder.
Current line frequency	Current input frequency of the recording. If the counting direction is set incorrectly, the line frequency remains at 0 Hz during movement.
Use A/B	Encoder with A/B track or A track only.
All edges	Uses all edges or only the rising edge of the input signal.
Follow direction	Takes into account the counting direction of the encoder when using A/B.
Default counting	Normal or inverted counting direction. With this option the counting direction can be inverted.

The first step is to set the encoder parameters before setting up the actual motion.

It is important that the "Current line frequency", when moving, shows a value > 0 Hz.

If the cabling of the encoder inputs and the counting direction is selected correctly, the current input frequency is displayed here.

After the encoder parameters are set correctly, the conversion of the encoder pulse to the image line is set. To facilitate this step, there is a setup guide for converting the encoder pulse to the correct camera parameters.

Menu	Description
Rotary encoder scaling	Conversion factors of the pulses to the corresponding camera lines.
Pulse counter	Internal camera pulse counter. Takes into account the parameters of the "Encoder scaling".
Set up Start	Starts the calibration process of the encoder.
Field of view width	Field of view width of the camera in mm. This value is required to achieve the most undistorted image possible in the direction of the encoder.
Calculate scaling	Calculates the best fitting scaling parameters based on the input data.
Setup movement	Movement of the encoder during the calibration process.
Desired image height	Adopts the field of view height in pixels as camera setting
Take over field of view	Adopts the field of view height in pixels as camera setting

Calibration of the encoder should be performed as follows:

Move encoder/linear axis into position.
Press "Start setup".
Start setup movement.

The encoder/linear axis should be moved a known length.
Press "Stop setup".
Enter the length of the "setup movement" in millimeters.
"Calculate scaling"

Optionally, the required number of lines can be calculated:

Enter desired "field of view height" in millimeters.
"Take over field of view"

Menu "image acquisition"

Menu	Description
Hardware Trigger	Activates the hardware trigger. Alternatively, the software trigger (triggering controlled via EasySightPro®).
Software Trigger	Triggers a software trigger for test purposes.
Image height	Number of image lines.
Images per trigger	Number of images per trigger. If there is more than one image, they will be captured bump to bump without overlap.
Mirror pixel on X	Mirrors each row around the X axis.
Horizontal binning	Combines x horizontal pixels into one. The brightness is added up in the process.
Vertical binning	Combines x vertical pixels (lines) into one. The brightness is added up or averaged (depending on the mode).
Vertical binning mode	Behavior with vertical binning enabled.
Acquisition Timeout	Timeout from trigger to completion of the image. This parameter must be adjusted to the actual scanning process, otherwise the image acquisition will be aborted during the acquisition.
Debouncing hardware trigger	Debouncing of the hardware trigger in microseconds.