Pilot Series
Are You Looking for a Digital Camera That Combines Speed, High Image Quality, and an Excellent Price/Performance Ratio? 

 Basler pilot Family – 10 new
Gigabit Ethernet based
camera models that are innovative, easy to integrate, have a slim design, and are extremely cost-effective

The Basler pilot camera family is based on four selected Kodak CCD sensors and one Sony CCD sensor for exceptional image quality. Equipped with a GigE Vision compliant interface, these cameras take maximum advantage of Kodak and Sony sensor technology and can often substitute for more cost-intensive Camera Link cameras and frame grabbers. Because Basler pilot cameras use the same sensors currently used in existing Camera Link cameras, no optics changes are required. For more flexibility, this series offers additional software features that can be integrated into the image processing software on a remote computer.
 
New Basler Integrates Further Features Into scout and pilot Camera Families
New Dust Protection for scout and pilot Cameras Ensures Long-term Image Quality New Basler Launches Four New Fast scout VGA Camera Models
New Basler Adds Automatic Features and a Lot More to Its scout and pilot Cameras
New Basler Expands scout Camera Series With Four Very Cost Effective Megapixel
Gigabit Ethernet and FireWire-b Models
New Tightest Tolerances for High Class Imaging With Basler scout and pilot Cameras
New PLC Cable and Debouncer Feature for Basler scout and pilot Cameras
New Dust Protection for scout and pilot Cameras Ensures Long-term Image Quality
 

Basler pilot cameras are a perfect fit for a variety of vision applications including semiconductor and component inspection, food inspection, manufacturing quality control, intelligent traffic systems, microscopy and medical imaging, biometrics, and many others.

Software Makes Image Processing Easy
The Basler pilot family comes with a fully tested package of software that lets you easily evaluate and integrate pilot cameras. The package can be downloaded from Basler ‘s website.

Using the viewer included in the package, you can capture a single image or capture images continuously. The viewer gives you full access to camera parameters, letting you adjust image quality and control cameras from a remote computer. Using the viewer is a very easy way to integrate a Basler camera into your application. Basler also offers a complete software development kit (SDK) to ensure maximum flexibility for customer-specific applications.

Outstanding Image Quality
The Basler pilot family is equipped with four different Kodak CCD sensors and one Sony CCD sensor with each camera available in mono or color. These sensors were selected to provide outstanding image quality in combination with the Basler pilot’s read-out and processing electronics. For precise imaging results, all Basler pilot cameras run in progressive scan mode.

Gigabit Ethernet (GigE Vision) Drivers
Basler provides its own fully tested Gigabit Ethernet drivers for the Basler pilot camera family. These drivers will be compatible with the GigE Vision standard and optimized for the Basler pilot family. To give you maximum flexibility, Basler provides two different drivers: 

Filter Driver: The filter driver quickly separates incoming packets that contain image data from other traffic on the network and makes the data available to an application running on the computer. This driver can be easily used with common Gigabit Ethernet network cards or with Gigabit Ethernet ports that are part of the computer‘s motherboard.

Performance Driver: By using the performance driver, even demanding applications with multiple cameras, high data rates, or very strict real-time requirements can be supported. When the performance driver is used in combination with a dedicated network interface card (Intel), the load on the host computer’s CPU is significantly reduced. This driver is based on dedicated Intel network interface cards and can be used to get maximum performance from your application.

Precise Sensor Alignment
In addition to Basler’s standard CCT+ automated quality assurance and calibration system, the pilot camera family will be tested and measured with another production tool. This unique tool is an ultrahigh precision sensor alignment device. The device automatically mounts the sensor board on the camera’s front module in six degrees of freedom with reference to the optical axis. This ensures a constant depth of focus over the whole sensor and guarantees the best imaging results, even with sensors that have pixels smaller than 5 μm, like the piA2400gm/gc has.

Pixel Formats and Preprocessing
For maximum flexibility in color representation, Basler pilot color cameras feature a variety of pixel formats. YUV 4:2:2 pixel formatting is done inside of the camera and YUV image data can be obtained directly. For individual processing, each pixel can be read out separately as a raw value at 8 or 12 bit depth and can be processed as desired in your remote computer. The pilot series features brand new pixel formats that intelligently organize 12 bit pixel data inside of the camera to take full advantage of the interface bandwidth.

What Makes Basler Camera Quality 
So Special?

To ensure consistently high product quality, we employ several quality inspection procedures during manufacturing. This list describes three of the most essential actions we take to meet your highest requirements. 

• The back focal length on each camera is carefully measured and adjusted. This guarantees an optimum distance between the lens flange and the sensor and ensures compliance with optics standards. 
 
• Our advanced Camera Test Tool (CTT+), the first fully automated inspection system for digital cameras, checks all of the significant quality aspects of each camera we produce. The CTT+ is a unique combination of optics, hardware, and software that can be quickly and efficiently used to calibrate a camera and to measure its performance against a set of standards. For defined sets of conditions, an automated software program examines the camera’s output, makes any calibration adjustments necessary, and compares the output to a strictly defined set of performance criteria. 

• As a final check, our cameras must pass a stress test. Each camera is tested over the entire temperature range specified in our documentation. By doing this, we can identify and remove temperature sensitive weak spots in the camera. Consistent image quality in conditions with quickly changing temperatures is thereby guaranteed. 

Basler customers get a 100% tested camera, all of the benefits that go along with 100% testing, and a much higher level of satisfaction. This is a definite win-win situation.
 

Innovative Technologies in the Basler scout Family

100 Meter Cable Lengths – High Bandwidth – No Frame Grabber
Basler’s pilot family has a Gigabit Ethernet (GigE) interface compliant with the GigE Vision standard. GigE has become a synonym for the new interface technology used in machine vision systems and in related industries like  intelligent traffic systems and medical imaging. High bandwidth, long cable lengths, and wide usage in the consumer and industrial markets are the key elements that make GigE attractive for your application.

Because Gigabit Ethernet breaks the bandwidth barrier that was set by FireWire, switching from Camera Link® to Gigabit Ethernet is now attractive for you. Another clear advantage of the scout family is a quantifiable reduction in the cost of a total vision solution because a frame grabber is no longer required. No less important is the 100 meter cable lengths offered by Gigabit Ethernet. These expanded capabilities open exciting new possibilities for vision system design and break through existing limitations to reach a new level that is especially beneficial for factory floor applications.

Unified API - Simple Programming - interface Independent
The Basler pilot cameras will be GenICam compatible and will include an IEEE1394 driver, GigE filter driver, and GigE performance driver. The scout software will also implement a newly designed image viewer. The core of GenICam is a description of the camera’s properties in an XML descriptor file. Using this file, a translator can directly generate either a C++ application programming interface (API) called GenAPI or the elements of a graphical user interface (GUI). This lets the user easily identify the camera type, as well as the features and functions available on the camera and the parameters associated with each camera function. Future extensions of GenICam will also provide mechanisms for grabbing and streaming images from the camera. The proposed GigE Vision standard stipulates that cameras must provide the XML descriptor file. A descriptor file for IEEE1394 compliant cameras will be available as well.

How Does Basler Measure and Define Image Quality?

Basler-VC is leading the effort to standardize image quality and sensitivity measurement for machine vision cameras and sensors. All measurements done by Basler will be in 100% compliance with the new European Machine Vision Association EMVA 1288 standard. Because it describes a unified method to measure, compute, and present the specification parameters for cameras and image sensors used in machine vision applications, Basler is giving the EMVA 1288 standard our strongest support.

The pilot family will be characterized and measured to provide information about the quality and sensitivity of our products. Data can be obtained from Basler’s support team.

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