EtherInspect 11

Reference Manual

2024 April 11
 Legal Notices

Legal Notices
The software described in this document is furnished under license, and may be used or copied only in accordance with the
terms of such license and with the inclusion of the copyright notice shown on this page. Neither the software, this document,
nor any copies thereof may be provided to, or otherwise made available to, anyone other than the licensee. Title to, and
ownership of, this software remains with Cognex Corporation or its licensor. Cognex Corporation assumes no responsibility
for the use or reliability of its software on equipment that is not supplied by Cognex Corporation. Cognex Corporation makes
no warranties, either express or implied, regarding the described software, its merchantability, non-infringement or its fitness
for any particular purpose.
The information in this document is subject to change without notice and should not be construed as a commitment by
Cognex Corporation. Cognex Corporation is not responsible for any errors that may be present in either this document or the
associated software.
Companies, names, and data used in examples herein are fictitious unless otherwise noted. No part of this document may be
reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, for any purpose, nor transferred to any
other media or language without the written permission of Cognex Corporation.
Copyright © 2024. Cognex Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
Portions of the hardware and software provided by Cognex may be covered by one or more U.S. and foreign patents, as well
as pending U.S. and foreign patents listed on the Cognex web site at: cognex.com/patents.

The following are registered trademarks of Cognex Corporation:

Cognex, 2DMAX, Advantage, AlignPlus, Assemblyplus, Check it with Checker, Checker, Cognex Vision for Industry,
Cognex VSOC, CVL, DataMan, DisplayInspect, DVT, EasyBuilder, Hotbars, IDMax, In-Sight, Laser Killer, MVS-8000,
OmniView, PatFind, PatFlex, PatInspect, PatMax, PatQuick, SensorView, SmartView, SmartAdvisor, SmartLearn,
UltraLight, Vision Solutions, VisionPro, VisionView
The following are trademarks of Cognex Corporation:
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insignia with cross-hairs), In-Sight 2000, InspectEdge, Inspection Designer, MVS, NotchMax, OCRMax, PatMax RedLine,
ProofRead, SmartSync, ProfilePlus, SmartDisplay, SmartSystem, SMD4, VisiFlex, Xpand
Portions copyright © Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Portions copyright © MadCap Software, Inc. All rights reserved.

Other product and company trademarks identified herein are the trademarks of their respective owners.

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 Symbols

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 Table of Contents

Table of Contents
Legal Notices 2
Symbols 3
Table of Contents 4
About EtherInspect 8
Getting Started 9
About the Release 9
Software and Hardware Requirements 9
Software 9
Hardware 9

Supported Cameras and PLCs 10

Setting Up Your Vision System for EtherInspect 10
Connecting the Ethernet Cable 11
Single Camera Setup 11
Multiple Camera Setup 11

Connecting the Power and I/O Breakout Cable 11

Software Installation 12
VisionPro Installation 13
VisionPro GPU Supplement 15
VisionPro Deep Learning/ViDi Installation 16
EtherInspect Installation 19
Configure a GigE Camera Using Cognex Vision Configurator 21
Additional Settings for GigE Network Setup 23

Bitflow User Assistance 26

EtherInspect User Guide 30
Logic Flow 30
User Interface Overview 31
Cameras in EtherInspect 32
What is a Job? 32
What is a Template? 33
Create a Virtual Camera 33
Create a Hybrid Camera 33
File Locations 35
Camera Settings Folder 35
Logs Folder 35
Server Logs Folder 35
Main Menu 36
System Backup and Restore 36
User Modes 37
Global Commands 37
Help Menu 39
Results 39
Inspection Results 40

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 Table of Contents

Trigger Options 40
Camera Trigger Options 41
Simulator Trigger Options 41
Trigger Modes 41
Toolbar 42
User Settings 42
Common Settings 43
Instance Settings 46
Camera Settings 47

Pre-Acquisition 49
Post-Acquisition 49
Application Tags 50
Job Verification Testing 51

Camera Settings 52
Acquisition Attempts 53
Image Setup 54
Inspection Settings 54
Category Visibility 55
Changing the Number of Tools 56
Editing the ToolBlock 56
Calibrate 57
Checkerboard Calibration 57
External Calibration (Sharing between Jobs) 58
HandEye2D Calibration 58

How to Set up HandEye2D Calibration in Robot Mode 61

Checkerboard Calibration for Motion Stage Mode 63
RealPart Calibration 63
TCP Interface 64
Image Filtering 64
Image Conversion 64
Converting Images to Greyscale 65

Fixturing 66
Coordinate Spaces 67
Create a Fixture 68

Pattern 69
Histogram 70
Blob Tools 71
Measure Tools 72
Single Edge 73
Pair Edge 75

Find Line Tools 76

Find Circle Tools 78
Codes (1D and 2D codes) 80
Color Segmenter 81

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 Table of Contents

2D Geometry 82
LineFrom2Points Tool 82
IntersectionOf2Lines Tool 83
DistancePointToPoint Tool 83

Cross Section 84
Image Crop 84
Custom ToolBlocks 85
Custom Toolblock UI Controls 85

C# Scripting 90
Scripting Tool 90

Script Editor 91

File Options 98
Image Save Options 99
Image Playback Options 100
Communications 100
Tag States 100
Setup Tags 101
Tag Types 102
Tag Attributes 102

Tag Help 102

Edit PLCs 103
Allen-Bradley PLC Information 103
Siemens PLC Information 104
Beckhoff PLC Information 106

Information Log 107

Log Viewer 107
Status Bar 108
Versions Display 108
Image Display 109
Color Map 110
Camera List 112
Additional Camera Settings 112
MultiCam View 112
Rename the Camera 113
Camera Replacement Display 113
EtherInspect Remote Interfaces 115
HandEye2D PLC Control Interface 115
Inputs 115
Outputs 116
Transmission Control Protocol Remote Interface 116
HandEye2D Calibration TCP Commands 121
RESTful Web Service 122
Image Web Server 124
VisionLine Interface 124

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 Table of Contents

Setup VisionLine Jobs 125

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 About EtherInspect

About EtherInspect
EtherInspect is an easy-to-use, network-ready machine vision inspection software that supports a variety of Cognex machine
vision systems including 2D and 3D cameras alongside a simple, customizable user interface. EtherInspect has different
user interface templates that allow for a variety of different applications from tray inspection to EV battery inspection.
EtherInspect also includes ViDi and VisionPro Deep Learning support for machine learning applications.

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 Getting Started

Getting Started
About the Release

Software and Hardware Requirements

Software
Before using EtherInspect, install the following software:
l Windows 10/11 64 Bit
l VisionPro
o VisionPro 9.5 SR2
o VisionPro 9.6 SR2
o VisionPro 9.8
o VisionPro 9.8 SR1
o VisionPro 9.10
o VisionPro 9.20
l ViDi/VPDL
o ViDi Suite 4.1
o VPDL 1.1
o VPDL 3.0
o VPDL 3.1 (Required with VisionPro 9.10)
o VPDL 3.2 (Required with VisionPro 9.20)
l .NET Framework 4.8 (Installs with VisionPro 9.10 and 9.20)

Hardware
l PC
l Security Dongle
l Camera Options:
o 2D
l Cognex CIC (Area/Line)
l CameraLink Line Scane Cameras (uses BitFlow Framegrabber)
o 3D
l DS1000 series (Line)
l 3D-L4000 Series with VisionPro Firmware (Line)
l 3D-A5000 Series (Area)
l PhotoNeo (Area)
l Cat6 Ethernet Cable

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 Getting Started

l Power Options:
o Camera Power Supply
o GigE PoE switch
o GigE PoE Framegrabber

Supported Cameras and PLCs

For a complete list of supported cameras, see the VisionPro Camera Support website.

Note: Not all acquisition platforms are supported on all operating systems.

l Cognex CIC GigE Cameras

l Cognex 3D-A5000 Area Scan Sensors
l Cognex DS1000 Laser Line Sensors
l GigE cameras that are Gen-I-Cam compliant
l CameraLink linescan cameras using BitFlow framegrabber
l Photoneo PhoXi Sensors
l Up to 12 sensors are supported per PC (with standard license dongle)
l Up to 64 camera connections for each EtherInspect instance.
l DX100

Supported PLC Version

Allen-Bradley ControlLogix
Micro 800
Siemens S7 200
300
400
1200
1500
Beckhoff TwinCAT3
Modbus N/A
Mitsubishi MC3E
MC4E
Motoman N/A

Setting Up Your Vision System for EtherInspect

Read this section to learn how the vision system connects to its standard components and accessories.

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 Getting Started

Connecting the Ethernet Cable

CAUTION: The Ethernet cable shield must be grounded at the far end.Whatever this cable is plugged into (typically a
switch or router) should have a grounded Ethernet connector. A digital voltmeter should be used to validate the
grounding. If the far end device is not grounded, a ground wire should be added in compliance with local electrical
codes.

Single Camera Setup

1. Connect your Cognex CIC Vision Camera directly to your PC with an Ethernet cable.
2. Use the power adapter to power up your camera.

Multiple Camera Setup

1. Connect the Vision PC to the Ethernet switch with an Ethernet cable.
2. Use a separate POE port on the Ethernet switch to connect the switch to the GigE cameras.

Note: Make sure to use the ports on the switch that support POE.

Connecting the Power and I/O Breakout Cable

CAUTION: To reduce emissions, connect the far end of the Breakout cable shield to frame ground.

Note:
l Perform wiring or adjustments to I/O devices when the vision system is not receiving power.
l You can clip unused wires short or use a tie made of non-conductive material to tie them back. Keep bare wires
separated from the +24 V DC wire.

1. Verify that the 24 V DC power supply is unplugged and not receiving power.
2. Attach the +24 V DC connector of the Power and I/O Breakout cable and Ground wires to the corresponding
terminals on the power supply. For more information, see Specifications on page 1.

CAUTION: Never connect voltages other than 24 V DC. Always observe the polarity shown.

3. Attach the M12 connector of the Power and I/O Breakout Cable to the 24 V DC connector of the vision system.

4. Restore power to the 24 V DC power supply and turn it on if necessary.

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Software Installation
Refer to the following sections on installing prerequisite Cognex software and EtherInspect.
l VisionPro Installation on page 13
l VisionPro GPU Supplement on page 15
l VisionPro Deep Learning/ViDi Installation on page 16
l EtherInspect Installation on page 19
l Configure a GigE Camera Using Cognex Vision Configurator on page 21
l Bitflow User Assistance on page 26

Note: Attach the security dongle before installing the software.

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VisionPro Installation
1. Go to the VisionPro Installer on the Cognex support site.
2. Download VisionPro.

Note: To download, you need a MyCognex account.

3. Unzip and extract the folder and run setup.exe.

4. If prompted, install the PylonRuntime, CodeMeterRuntime, and .NET Framework. Pylon provides the basic GigE
drivers to access vision cameras. CodeMeter allows for the renewal, updating, and viewing of Cognex software
license info provided on your license dongle.

Note: Updating from 11.3.xx-yy or older requires .NET Framework 4.8.

5. The InstallShield Wizard opens. Keep clicking next until you reach the Cognex Software License Agreement page.
6. Review the License Agreement and click I accept the terms in the license agreement and continue.

7. Provide a username and organization name.

8. In the Custom Installs page, save both the main feature and the sub-features for VisionPro Core Components,
VisionPro Documentation, and 3D tools to your local drive.

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 9. Remove VisionPro Development Tools and VisionPro Sample Code and Image Files from the list of features to
install.

10. Click Install.

11. Check the box to launch the Cognex Driver Installer. Keep Launch Asian Language Documents Installer
unchecked. The selection installs drivers to interface with any Cognex vision cameras that you attach to your PC.
Restart the application when prompted.
12. A separate install wizard opens that installs the drivers. Click Next.

13. Review and accept the Cognex Software License Agreement. Click Next.
14. For Setup Type, select Complete. Click Next.
15. Click Install.

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 16. After installing the Cognex drivers, you are prompted with the option to install the DSMax Frame Grabber.
Uncheck Launch DSMAX Frame Grabber Driver Installer and click Finish.
17. The installer prompts you to restart your system to complete the installation. Click Yes.

VisionPro GPU Supplement

If you want to use your GPU when running VisionPro Deep Learning workspaces, the VisionPro GPU supplement is required
for VisionPro 9.20. After installing VisionPro and before installing VisionPro Deep Learning, you can install the VisionPro
GPU supplement.

Note: Only VisionPro 9.20 and VisionPro Deep Learning 3.2 use the supplement.

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VisionPro Deep Learning/ViDi Installation
1. Go to the VisionPro Deep Learning Installer on the Cognex support site.
2. Download VisionProDeepLearning.
3. Extract the .zip folder and run the .exe file to install VisionPro Deep Learning.
4. Click Install.
5. Once the Setup Wizard appears, click Next.

6. Accept the License Agreement for CodeMeter.

7. Choose which users you want to install the application for.

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 8. Maintain the default installation options set by CodeMeter when dealing with Custom installation. Click Next.

9. Click Install.
10. Click Finish.
11. You are sent back to the main installer for VisionPro Deep Learning. Review and accept the Software License
Agreement.
12. Provide a username and organization name.
13. Select Custom under Setup Type. Click Next.
14. For Destination Location, keep the default configuration and click Next.

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15. Uncheck the box labeled DevelopAPI. Click Next.

16. Click Install.

17. Click Finish.

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EtherInspect Installation
1. Download and run the latest version of EtherInspectSetup.exe.
2. Run EtherInspect Configuration tool from desktop to configure network interfaces and cameras.
3. Check the box Start Ether-Inspect with Windows to start the application immediately after the PC boots up. Check
the box Start Ether-Inspect after installation to run the application after installation. Choose which boxes to check
and continue the installation.

Note: Enabling Start Ether-Inspect With Windows enables the Auto-Restart function.

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4. Configure the application.

5. Click Finish.

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Configure a GigE Camera Using Cognex Vision Configurator
The Cognex GigE Vision Configurator allows you to edit the IP address and network properties of GigE cameras.

1. To configure a GigE Camera for image acquisition in EtherInspect, you need to open the Cognex GigE Vision
Configurator included in the VisionPro installation.

2. Select the network adapter with a camera attached to it.

3. Change the adapter IP address to a different one from your local network devices.

4. Click Update Network Connection to save the changes.

Note: The subnet automatically updates when the network connection is updated.

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5. Select the camera connected to your network adapter.
6. Change the IP address to a different one from your local network devices.

Note: Make sure the IP address of your camera is the same subnet as your network adapter for correct image
acquisition.

7. Your camera is now ready for image acquisition.

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Additional Settings for GigE Network Setup
1. To improve the image quality, set the Jumbo Packet property of your network adapter to the maximum value.

The maximum transition unit (MTU) of your camera increases.

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2. To increase the amount of data your network adapter receives, set the Receive Buffer property of your camera to the
maximum value.

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3. To prevent acquisition interruptions, set the Interrupt Moderation Rate of your camera to Disabled.

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Bitflow User Assistance
A common issue if you have a BitFlow adapter involves selecting a camera after opening up the EtherInspect application. An
exception in the debug log prevents you from selecting and running jobs on any cameras:

To fix this, you need to modify the environment variables in the Path variable of your system.

1. Go to your Environment Variables list.

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2. Select the Path variable under System Variables to display a list of variables in order from top to bottom.

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3. In the list of environment variables from various applications, select the variables:
l C:\Program\Files\Cognex\VisionPro\bin
l C:\Program\Files\(x86)\Cognex\VisionPro\bin
l C:\BitFlow\SDK\X.X\Bin64

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4. Move both Vision Pro Bin Files up above the bin folder for the BitFlow SDK.

5. You can now access and load jobs onto the GigE cameras on EtherInspect.

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 EtherInspect User Guide

EtherInspect User Guide

Logic Flow
Each camera in EtherInspect is in one of six states, with the exception for Auto Mode. Auto Mode only uses five states. The
diagram shows the transitions between states.

The timing chart shows a typical cycle. PLCClear is only valid when ResultsReady is on, and is dropped when
ResultsReady is low. PLCTrigger is only valid when TriggerReady is on and is dropped when TriggerReady is low.

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 EtherInspect User Guide

User Interface Overview

Number Name Description

1 Main Menu on page 36 Opens main context menu to run
common operations in EtherInspect and
retrieve diagnostics and security key
info.
2 Results on page 39 Shows Pass/Fail results and active
camera info.
3 Trigger Options on page 40 Capture images and adjust camera
triggering mode.
4 Toolbar on page 42 The toolbar has the following functions:

l Save and load jobs

l Create new jobs from template
l Enable Multi-Cam view
l Go to Settings dialog
5 Camera Settings on page 52 Adjust camera configuration and image
capture.
6 Inspection Settings on page 54 Add VisionPro and EtherInspect tools to
use during inspection.
7 File Options on page 98 Saves and loads jobs, results, and
images. Can also set startup job and set
AUTO mode on startup.

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 EtherInspect User Guide

8 Image Save Options on page 99 Saves images to a folder after

inspection and playback.
9 Communications on page 100 Configure PLC servers and tags and
display I/O information.
10 Information Log on page 107 Shows current logs. Expand to filter and
display certain logs from session.
11 Status Bar on page 108 Contains info on user mode, date, and
time.
12 Versions Display on page 108 Opens versions dialog for more
information on VisionPro Deep
Learning/ViDi and VisionPro versions.
13 Image Display on page 109 Shows images after acquisition with
graphics.
14 Camera List on page 112 List of all cameras on the network and
the status.

EtherInspect now contains two UI options:

l Modern: Enhanced and rebranded UI with a similar layout to legacy but a simpler style.
l Legacy: Original EtherInspect 11 UI prior to version 11.4.3-0.

The default UI is Modern. You can change this setting in Setup/Configuration > Common > Default UI.

Cameras in EtherInspect
EtherInspect uses a built-in VisionPro library to access all cameras on your local network. Each one is given a different
thread and runs separately from other cameras. Each camera can be given a different job for processing.
EtherInspect supports the following camera types:

Icon Type Function

Real A real camera is the main thread using a physical camera on the network. A real camera can have a
set of jobs and configurations. Real cameras can be further extended with copies called virtual
cameras.
Virtual A virtual camera is a separate thread using a real camera but has an individual set of jobs and
configurations. Use a virtual camera to run a different job from the real camera without altering the
settings.
Hybrid A hybrid camera combines two or more real cameras and merges them into one. Calibration is
required if you want to stitch the images together. A hybrid camera allows for a greater field of view
than a singular camera.

What is a Job?
A job is an inspection process used to complete tasks. The tasks range from finding the location of a robot wheel to go and
pick the robot wheel up to inspecting a tray of items for defects and abnormalities. Each job has an individual set of camera
settings, PLC communication settings, trigger options, and vision tools to complete the tasks given.

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 EtherInspect User Guide

What is a Template?
A template in EtherInspect is a preset list of vision tools used for particular applications. For more information on templates
and the type of templates, refer to the EtherInspect Template Documentation.

Create a Virtual Camera

Use a virtual cameras to obtain images from the same camera but with different settings and tools.

1. Right-click the camera under Select Cameras. Click Add Virtual.

2. Name your virtual camera. Make sure the name is unique from any existing cameras. Click OK.

3. After you create the virtual camera, you can set up a template for the virtual camera and edit the settings to be
different from your original camera. You can also use different VisionPro tools.

Create a Hybrid Camera

Create a hybrid camera from 2D cameras/sensors (2D merge) or 3D cameras/sensors (3D merge).

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1. Right-click on a real camera and select Create Hybrid.

2. A dialog box pops up. Select which cameras to merge.
3. Name the hybrid camera, and select the type of hybrid camera to create from the drop down menu.

The hybrid camera displays the images from all of the cameras as one image. A hybrid camera has several operation modes
which affect how the images are displayed.
The operation modes are:
l Calibration Stitch: Stitches images from all of the cameras together through calibration.
l Tile Horizontal: Displays images side-by-side.
l Tile Vertical: Displays images from top to bottom.
l Tile Grid: Displays images in grid.

Set the Calibration Stitch

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 EtherInspect User Guide

Calibration Stitch mode runs calibration using fiducial points in the image. The fiducial points serve as reference points to run
image stitching. You need a calibration plate or grid to run the calibration stitch.
The calibration modes are:
l Linear
l PerspectiveAndRadialWarp
l LineScanWarp
l LineScan2DWarp
l SinTanLawProjectionWarp
l ThreeParamRadialWarp
l NoDistortionWarp

To change the calibration mode:

1. Open the User Settings dialog.

2. Go to Cameras > {HybridCameraName} and set the operation mode to CalibrationStitch.
3. Set the Calibration Mode and enable the setting Calibrate Next to run calibration on the next acquisition.

Note: A calibration grid needs to be in view of all the cameras to run calibration successfully.

File Locations

Camera Settings Folder

The CameraSettings folder is located at C:\ProgramData\Cognex\Ether-Inspect\CameraSettings. The folder contains:
l CAM configuration files
l Jobs
l Verification images
l Backup files (.BAK, .BAKJSON)
l Common configuration file (Common.cfg)
l Server configuration file (server.cfg)
l Setup configuration file (Setup.cfg)

Logs Folder
The Logs folder is located at C:\ProgramData\Cognex\Ether-Inspect\EILogs and contains logs generated by EtherInspect
during runtime.

Server Logs Folder

The ServerLogs folder is located at C:\ProgramData\Cognex\Ether-Inspect\ServerLogs. The ServerLogs folder contains logs
generated by the EtherInspect Server which monitors EtherInspect jobs that have started and the state during runtime. You
can use the logs to troubleshoot Auto Restart events.

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 EtherInspect User Guide

Main Menu
The Main Menu contains commonly-used features in EtherInspect.

Name Description
Job Load, save, and import jobs.
System Backup and Restore Create backup and restore from backup.
Switch User Switch user mode.
Global Commands Run general commands on multiple cameras.
Help l About (Opens Versions Dialog)
l Documentation (Opens EtherInspect documentation)
l Save Security Key Info (Saves license dongle information)
l Save Diagnostic Info (Saves diagnostics info from currently loaded job)

System Backup and Restore

Use system backups to restore EtherInspect to a previous point in the event of application corruption or any application-
breaking change.
The two types of system backups are:

l User-made backups: Created manually and named by the user.

l Automatic backups: Created prior to deleting a real or virtual camera.

The System Backup & Restore options are found in the Main Menu.

When creating a backup, you are prompted to add a comment describing the backup and chose a location to save the
backup. Creating a backup saves the current version of the CameraSettings directory to the target location.

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When restoring a backup, EtherInspect requires a restart of the application to load in the previous CameraSettings folder.
You need to manually restart the application.

User Modes
The four user modes in EtherInspect are:
l Operator: Can only view the camera feed, monitor communication, and view logs.
l Supervisor: Can see only certain categories of tools, serving as the midway point between Operator and Engineer.
l Engineer: Has full access to tools and communications and can define what categories are visible.
l Integrator: Has full access to tools and communications.

Change the user mode in the main context menu. Select Switch User.

The dialog prompts you to choose the user mode followed by a password (if the target user is not the Operator).

Global Commands
Allows you to run general EtherInspect commands on multiple cameras.
Global commands can run for all Active jobs or all Loaded jobs. Active jobs include jobs that are actively running on each of
the cameras in the current instance. Loaded jobs include all the jobs that are loaded into the cameras in the current
instance.
The global commands include:
l Showing the cycle counts dialog for pass/fail jobs during a particular shift or since start up.
l Going into AUTO mode.
l Going into MANUAL mode.
l Resetting the counters in the cycle counts dialog.

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l For Active and Loaded jobs:

o Setting image save option.
o Changing the image save format.
o Enabling or disabling the HMI image output.
o Saving jobs.

Cycle Counts Display

Shows counts of PASS/FAIL since start up and since the start of a shift.

Reset Counters
Reset all the PASS/FAIL inspection count back to 0. You can also reset the counters using the Cycle Counts Display by
double-clicking.

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Help Menu
View firmware versions, documentation, save license, and diagnostic information in the Help Menu.
The About button opens the versions dialog, allowing you to see firmware versions for VisionPro, VisionPro Deep
Learning/ViDi, and EtherInspect.

The Documentation button opens the EtherInspect documentation in a separate window.

The Save Security Key Info button saves information about the currently connected EtherInspect license dongle. The two
files saved are:
l .txt file containing license bit information
l .WibuRaC file for updating license dongles

The files are packaged in a .zip file with the file path you specified.

The Save Diagnostic Info button saves information you can send to Cognex IT Support for troubleshooting issues. The
information includes results for the current job, camera settings or configuration, and log files from the current day.

Results
Shows inspection results, camera model, and acquisition times.

Number Name Description

1 Camera / Job Name Name of camera is on the left, and the
name of job is on the right.

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2 Acquisition / Processing time Acquisition time is on the left, and

processing time is on the right.
Acquisition time is the time spent in the
Acquisition state during inspection,
which includes:
l Waiting for an external trigger (if
applicable)
l Exposure time
l Image transfer time
l Time to change state to
Processing

Processing time is the time spent

processing the job including running
scripts.

Note: The time calculations do not

include saving images.

3 Camera Info Camera Information including model,

serial number, and IP address.
4 Inspection Results Includes global inspection results and
results for specific tools used in
inspection.

Inspection Results
The Inspection results section shows all of the inspection results for each tool and the result for the global inspection. When a
tool type fails, it displays a number to the right of the result indicating which tool failed.
In this example, Blob Tool 1 failed:

Trigger Options
In the Trigger Options settings, you can change the trigger type, inter-trigger delay, and Auto/Manual mode.

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 EtherInspect User Guide

Camera Trigger Options

Name Description
Toggle Light Triggers TurnLightON bit in status word, which you can use to trigger light in MANUAL mode.
Trigger Mode Determines when image is captured in AUTO mode.
Snapshot Captures a single image from the camera.
Go Live Switches to Live Acquisition mode.
Go Auto Automatically captures images based on trigger mode.
Inter-Trigger Delay In Timed or Network / Timed mode, determines time between image captures
(in ms).

Simulator Trigger Options

Name Description
Use Inter-Trigger Delay Enables or disables the use of an inter-trigger delay between images.
Sort into Pass / Fail Folders Determines if Sort copies images into new PASS / FAIL subfolders.
Sort Runs through images in the play folder.

Trigger Modes
Trigger modes determine the rate at which image acquisition occurs. The rate is determined through methods such as inter-
trigger delays, triggers within a PLC, and external triggers based off sensor output.

Trigger Description
Mode
Network Network trigger mode uses PLC logic to trigger on command. This occurs whenever the PLCTrigger status
Trigger Mode bit goes high in the logic and runs the image acquisition process. The PLCTrigger bit can only trigger when
the system is online and the TriggerReady bit is high.

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External External trigger mode uses an external sensor output to trigger the cameras. The mode can be set up within
Trigger Mode PLC where a sensor such as a photo-eye can trigger the camera to start image acquisition.
Timed Timed trigger mode uses the inter-trigger delay under Trigger Options to add a time delay between each
Trigger Mode image capture. The camera runs through the image acquisition process each time the delay elapses.
Network / Network / Timed trigger mode is a combination of network and timed trigger mode. The mode uses the inter-
Timed trigger delay to space out the timing between each PLC trigger.
Trigger Mode
Continuous Continuous trigger mode runs image acquisition continuously with no delays between each trigger. Use the
Trigger Mode mode for fast acquisition.
Fast External Fast External trigger mode is the same as external trigger mode except it runs with little to no delay between
Trigger Mode triggers.
Network / Network / External trigger mode is a combination of network mode and external trigger mode where, when
External the external trigger outputs true, the PLC logic is executed.
Trigger Mode
Network / Network / Continuous trigger mode is a combination of network and continuous trigger mode where the
Continuous delay between PLC triggered acquisition is 0.
Trigger Mode

Toolbar
Icon Function Description
Create a new job (Select Click the icon to open the New Job dialog. From here, you can select a template to
Template) create a new job.
Load a job (Open) Click the icon to load a job from disk.

Save a job Click the icon to save the currently loaded job on the current camera.

Going into MultiCam Click the icon to open MultiCam View. For more information, see MultiCam view.
View
Accessing User Settings Click the icon to open the User Settings on page 42 dialog, which allows you to configure
settings related to EtherInspect.

User Settings
Allows you to edit the following application settings:
l Common Settings
l Instance Settings
l Camera Settings
l Application Tags
l Job Verification

Note: Some settings require an application restart to apply the settings.

Note: Close the settings dialog to apply changes.

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Common Settings

Setting Description
Default UI Sets the default UI that EtherInspect loads into when starting the application. For information on the UI
options, see the User Interface Overview.
Engineer By default, EtherInspect starts in Engineer mode but you can change the mode to start in Operator mode.
Startup
Idle timeout Engineer mode automatically logs out after a given timeout. If set to 0, the timeout is disabled.
System The Edge Intelligence / HMI shows this name and description of system.
Location
Skip When enabled, backups are written to the data (D) drive instead of C drive.
Backups on
C Drive
Storage Configure the path where data is stored. The default path is D:\Data.
Directory
Note: Data stored within the directory includes PASS / FAIL images during inspection. The images are
saved with the job results for that image (in the form of an XML file). This only happens when image
saving is done. For more information, see Image Save Options on page 99.

HMI Image Configure the path where HMI images are stored. The default path is D:\Data.
Directory
Note: The path configuration works similarly to the storage directory option where PASS / FAIL images
from the HMI are stored. The information includes any job results associated with the image.

Save HMI The default HMI image format is PNG. Set this option to save it as JPG.
Image as
JPG

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Disk Space Percentage of disk space to keep available on the image storage disks.
Remaining
Target Note: If you exceed the target, image storage disks delete the oldest images and results.

Abort Stops saving images if the free space is below the percentage (0 = disabled).
Saving if
Disk fills up
Time Specifies time (in ms) between deleting images during disk cleanup.
Between
Image
Deletes
Files to Sets the number of files to delete at once during cleanup (0 = unlimited).
Delete at
Once
EI Instances Maximum number of EtherInspect instances on current device. Read-only.

Note: You can only change the setting in EtherInspect Configuration Utility.

Rerun Job Controls whether the job re-runs when the input image has changed.
on Tool
image
changed
Keep To make sure the coordinate tooltip stays on screen, check the Keep Coordinate Tooltips Visible
Coordinate checkbox. By default, the coordinate tooltips only appear when you double-click on the Camera display and
Tooltips disappear when you move the mouse.
Visible
Simulators If checked, in simulator mode, EtherInspect does not connect to the PLC.
Ignore PLCs
Enable To share one copy of a job with multiple cameras, check Enable Common Jobs. You can save a job in the
Common CommonJobs directory by right-clicking the Save Job button. You can pick a common job for your startup
Jobs job. The prefix “common” denotes a common job.
Enable 3D Enables a 3D display for 3D cameras by default.
Display –
Run GC After N amount of images are acquired, run Garbage Collection to free up memory.
every N
images
Log Memory Keeps track of memory usage in information log.
Usage
Load Job When enabled, the feature runs when requested by the PLC. If the job changes, EtherInspect uses the copy
from Disk, if of the job on disk instead of the copy in memory.
changed
Save JSON Saves JSON file to disk when job is saved, containing information on job configuration.
with Job
Web Server The IP address form of a URL to set the web server to retrieve images from inspection.
Address

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Use Manual If enabled, EtherInspect adds the prefix “Manual-“ to saved image files when taking a snapshot in MANUAL
– Prefix mode.
Use Appends AcquisitionID to end of image file name.
Acquisition
ID in File
Name
Display Any image that arrives faster than this rate skips updating the display.
Update Limit
(ms)
ViDi Max Number of ViDi processes allowed to use the same GPU.
Process
Count Note: Anything greater than one increases tool processing time but allows more tools to run
simultaneously.

ViDi Amount of memory to reserve on GPU in MB (0 = disabled).

Optimized
Memory
Extra Debug EtherInspect generates additional log messages if requested by Cognex Tech Support.
Logging
Log File Number of days to keep logs (3 – 90), defaults 90.
Retention
(days)
Edge If set to the address of an Edge Intelligence box, a server is started with a web interface allowing you to
Intelligence monitor EtherInspect systems from a remote PC.
Address
Note: You must have an Edge Intelligence box set up.

Note: The IP address of the Edge Intelligence box is the same as the server.

Reboot on If enabled, firmware updates received from the web interface are installed automatically and reboots
Firmware EtherInspect with the updated firmware.
Upload
Hide Disables pass/fail graphics in MultiCam view and camera select display.
MultiCam
Result
Show Displays inspection settings in AUTO mode.
Inspection
Settings in
Auto
Allow Empty Uses device name if serial number is empty.
Device SN
Password Default old password for Engineer account is “password”. Default old password for Integrator account is
change “integrator”. You have an option to set the new password for Engineer/Integrator account.

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Instance Settings

Setting Description
Heartbeat Period Period of heartbeat in milliseconds. When the period ends,
the network pings the camera to verify it still exists. The PLC
can also receive the heartbeat period to monitor camera
status.

Note: Cognex recommends 30000 ms or lower.

Refresh Status on Heartbeat Automatically refreshes status of PLC tag outputs when
heartbeat ends. You must restart the application to apply the
setting.

Note: Cognex does not recommended automatically

refreshing because it causes additional PLC traffic.

HMI Size Configure the width of HMI image in pixels. The height is
automatically calculated based on the aspect ratio or the
image.
Show log on Multi-Cam view Shows the information log when MultiCam view is on.
Multi-Cam at Startup If enabled, the application start up sets the MultiCam view.
MQTT Broker address IP address of MQTT broker. Leave the address blank if
unused.
MQTT Username Username to connect to MQTT broker. Leave it blank for no
authentication.
MQTT Password Password to connect to MQTT broker. Leave it blank if
unused.
MQTT TLS? Enable MQTT TLS encryption.

MQTT
MQTT is a lightweight, publish / subscribe, machine to machine network protocol used to queue, send, and receive
messages. You can use MQTT in remote locations with limited resources and bandwidth for devices.

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Camera Settings

Setting Description
MultiCam Page # Page number on which the camera is shown when MultiCam
view is on. The pages can be between 1 to 4. Set 0 hides the
camera from MultiCam view. Keep clicking on “MULTICAM
VIEW >> F1” to navigate through multiple pages.
MultiCam Sort order Configure the order of the camera on the MultiCam page
assigned to it. Order number can be between 1 to 20. Camera
ordering starts from top left to bottom right. More information
can be found in MultiCam View on page 112.
Overview X Found in the EtherInspect viewer application. A fault
animated circle is shown at this coordinate on Overview
image.
Overview Y Found in EtherInspect viewer application. A fault animated
circle is shown at the coordinate on Overview image.
Overview Radius Found in the EtherInspect viewer application. A fault
animated circle is animated up to configured radius.

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Database Type Configure which database to send inspection data. Based on

the selected type, more configurations appear.
Enable External Trigger Timeout Enable timeout on external trigger.

Note: Disabling can cause unresponsiveness.

Ext Trigger Timeout Timeout to wait for external trigger in seconds.

Prepend Tail of Previous Image Prepend tail of previous image onto new image.
Acquisition Buffer Size Values greater than one allow acquiring a new image while
the first is processing.
Max Parallel Threads Maximum number of images to process in parallel.
Discard Images when Exceeding N Skip saving images if more than N parallel threads are
needed (0 = disabled).

Job Properties

Setting Description
Do not Convert Range to Grey Does not convert range to greyscale.
Allow Color Calib & Filtering Allows color images in calibration or filtering. Default is false.
2D Hand Eye Enables tool for robot calibration with 2D camera.
External 2D Calibration Use external file for 2D calibration. Default is false.
External Tool Path Path used to load tool from external file.
Pre-Acquisition Script If enabled, you can run a script before acquisition. The Pre-
Acquisition Script is not the same as the Pre-Job Scripting
tool. If the Post-Acquisition Script is enabled, you can run a
script after acquisition. Uses same scripts as pre-acquisition
setting. See Pre-Acquisition on page 49.

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Allow Conditional Execution If checked, allows configuring scripts to determine conditional

execution of specific tools.
Save Only Final Attempt When multiple acquisition attempts are enabled, save only
the final attempt.
Use Strict Tool Linkage If unchecked, allows you to control the flow of images through
the various tools.
Default Images List of default images, must be comma separated (test_img1,
test_img2, test_img3).
Save Reduced Images Saves images at a reduced size.

Note: Enable the setting to reduce the scale, with 100%

being full-sized images (Reduced Image Scale). You
cannot re-inspect reduced images.

Pre-Acquisition and Post Acquisition Scripts

Pre-Acquisition
Pre-Acquisition scripts allow you to run a script before acquisition.
When enabling Pre-Acquisition Script, an additional setting pops up called Images to Capture which allows you to specify
how many images to capture per camera trigger.

1. Click Image Setup in Camera Settings.

2. Select Pre Script. An editor opens for the Pre-Acquisition script.

Post-Acquisition
Post-Acquisition scripts allow you to run a script after acquisition.

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1. Enable the Post-Acquisition script. Click Image Setup under Camera Settings to edit.

2. Enabling this feature places a Post Script button to edit the post-acquisition script.

Application Tags

Function Description
Verification Start (Input, Boolean) starts the verification when the tag goes high.
When EtherInspect receives the Verification start, it outputs
VerificationAck (Output, Boolean). This should be used by the
PLC to turn off VerificationStart.
VerificationProgress (Output, Int) gives a 0 – 100 value for progress through the
verification batch.

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VerificationResult (Output, Int) provide the overall success / fail for the batch:
Bit Status Description
#
0 All Pass All jobs from batch passed inspection.
1 False There was a false positive in the batch
Accept(s) verification.
2 False There was a false negative in the batch
Reject(s) verification.
3 *Unused* Bit is not used.
4 Empty List Empty list was provided.
5 Error An exception/error was experienced during
verification.
6 No images No images were provided.
7 *Unused* Bit is not used.

Job Verification Testing

EtherInspect has the capability to automatically test production jobs against known Pass/Fail images. Multiple jobs can be
tested, and each batch can be tested via PLC trigger and basic results are returned.

Number Name Description

1 Run Batch Runs a batch of jobs based on the job number provided.
2 Batch Number Select batch number to run job verification on.

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3 Reset Clears the values from the previous job verification and
resets the values to -1.
4 Job Verification Table Shows the number of accepts, rejects, false rejects, and
false accepts for each batch.
5 Add/Remove Batch Add and remove batches from job verification.
6 PLC Select PLC to add or remove job verification tasks.

Add as many checks as desired. Select the camera name and Job index number. Specify the batch number for each job
verification test that you are setting.

Note: If jobs are revised, the job always uses the most recent for the index number selected. -1 in a field indicates the
job did not run a verification check yet.

Setting Description
Batch Multiple Job verification tests can be set to the same batch number which groups them together as one batch
Number when running it.
Camera Camera to run job verification off.
Job Number Specifies the job to use within the camera.
Total Total amount of images that ran during test. This is the sum of Accepts, Rejects, False Rejects, and False
Images Accepts.
Accepts Number of images in PASS folder that pass inspection.
Rejects Number of images in FAIL folder that fail inspection.
False Number of images in PASS folder that fail inspection.
Rejects
False Number of images in FAIL folder that pass inspection.
Accepts

When running batches, if the batch number selected is 0, all job verification tests run. If the batch number matches the batch
number of a group of job verification tests, the program runs verification on those specific verification tests.
Verification images are stored in: C:\ProgramData\Cognex\Ether-Inspect\CameraSettings\<CameraName>\<JobNumber>_
Verify_<Pass or Fail>

You can copy images into this directory or save images to the verification batch by right-clicking Save Result and choosing
Save Verification image.

Verification tests can be executed manually by clicking the Run Batch button.
The PLC can initiate the execution and receive results of Verification tests.

Camera Settings
You can modify the camera settings here. Exposure, contrast, and brightness are not visible if the acquisition settings are too
complex to fit. Use the Acquisition Attempts button to configure Exposure, Contrast, and Brightness.

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Name Description
Exposure Changes exposure on camera (Min = 0) (Max = 999).
Contrast Changes contrast on camera (Min = 0) (Max = 1).
Brightness Changes brightness on camera (Min = 0) (Max = 1).
Copy From Job Copies camera settings from a different job.
Image Setup Allows you to modify VisionPro settings of camera.
Acquisition Add acquisition attempts with different camera settings. For each failed attempt, it goes to the next
Attempts attempt and tries to acquire an image until it passes inspection or all acquisition attempts fail.

Acquisition Attempts

You can use the Acquistion Attempts features simultaneously. The features are:
l Multiple Attempts: Use multiple attempts to attempt the same job multiple times with different image settings. The
camera iterates through each attempt until either one attempt results in a PASS or all attempts FAIL.

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l Multiple Sensors (Hybrid Cameras): Use multiple sensors (not pictured) to configure image settings for hybrid
cameras.
l Multiple Images: Use multiple images if the application requires more than one image with different lighting (such as
SurfaceFX). The feature requires enabling Pre-Acquisition Scripting in the Job settings and setting Number of
Images greater than one.

Note: If Use Same Exposure for All images is selected, the tabs for Image 1, Image 2, and so on, are not
visible.

l Multiple Exposures (HDR): Use multiple exposures to create a 16 bit High Dynamic Range (HDR) image.
HDR images combine pixels from the different exposure levels to create an image the preserves dark and light
regions without overexposing. Up to five additional exposures can be configured for HDR, for a total of six images.
l Tone Mapping: The Tone Mapping algorithm compresses a 16 bit image to 8 bits, preserving local contrast.

Image Setup
Allows you to configure the camera properties, including changing the white balance, modifying the camera region, setting
timeouts, or viewing camera information.

Note: Exposure, Brightness, and Contrast only update when a new image is acquired.

Inspection Settings
Allows you to change settings on various tools in the current template.

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Click Inspection Settings at the top to open the Category Visibility Display to show or hide categories.
Click the re-run button in the upper-right to re-run the inspection using the same image.

Click next to any category to show the tool settings for the first tool in each category.

Category Visibility
Use checkboxes to show or hide each category listed in the Inspection Settings Display.

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Changing the Number of Tools

1. Click Add Tool to create a new tool of the same type.

2. Click X to remove the current tool.

3. Double-click the tool name (such as CogPMAlignTool1) to open the VisionPro tool settings for the tool.
4. Right-click the tool name to rename the tool.
5. Change the counter number to change which tool is displayed.

Editing the ToolBlock

Allows editing CogToolBlocks. The example shows the toolblock for a pattern tool. You can access the toolblock by clicking
the tool name in the tool list under Inspection Settings.

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Calibrate
Checkerboard Calibration

Name Description
Checker Size Sets size of checkerboard squares for calibration.
Calibration Status Shows status of calibration.
Fiducial Style Choose feature to use as marker for calibration.
Scale Displays scaling info for calibration.
Calibrate Run calibration.
Uncalibrate Forget calibration.
Edit Region Specify region of image to limit calibration to.

How to Set up Checkerboard Calibration

To run Checkerboard Calibration:

1. Set the Checker Size to the size of the checkerboard squares (either metric or imperial units).
2. Choose the Fiducial Style to set a visual reference in the image to calibrate off of. It is recommended but not
necessary to use the StandardRectangle fiducial style.
3. Optional: Click Edit Region if you want to designate a portion of the image to be calibrated.
4. Click Calibrate to run the calibration process.
5. If the calibration is no longer needed, click Uncalibrate.

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External Calibration (Sharing between Jobs)

External calibration is disabled by default. To enable the feature, go to Setup/Configuration > Cameras > (cameraName) >
(jobName) and enable the setting External 2D Calibration.

Enabling the setting makes the following controls appear within the Calibrate tool. The Calibrate tool allows you to load
calibrations from other jobs and save calibrations to share with other jobs.

Save Calibration saves the current calibration to a file.

Load Calibration allows you to load a file with a calibration in it.

Note: When you enable the External Calibration option, the calibration is loaded from the file each time the job is
loaded. If the calibration changes, it only needs to be saved once from a job using it.

HandEye2D Calibration
Use the HandEye2D tool to calibrate robot coordinates based on image coordinates in EtherInspect. The tool combines
checkerboard calibration and N-Point calibration into one tool. The N-Point calibration takes a minimum of 3 and a maximum
of 90 points to correlate the robot coordinate system to the vision coordinates.
The HandEye2D calibration is an optional replacement for standard checkerboard calibration. To enable it, go to
Setup/Configuration > (cameraName) > (jobName) and enable 2D Hand Eye within the job properties.

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The two HandEye2D Calibration modes are:

l How to Set up HandEye2D Calibration in Robot Mode on page 61
l Checkerboard Calibration for Motion Stage Mode on page 63

The modes differ based on the setup or configuration and method of calibration used when calibrating the robot.

Robot Mode
Robot mode allows you to register multiple calibration points off of a target.

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Name Description
Hand Eye Mode Sets the mode for the HandEye2D Calibration tool.
Checker Size Size of checkerboard tiles.
Checkerboard Calibration Provides the status of the checkerboard calibration (Not Calibrated/Calibrated).
Status
Fiducial Style Specify the point of reference to base the measurement off of.
Calibrate (Checkerboard) Runs checkerboard calibration.
Uncalibrate (Checkerboard) Forgets the current checkerboard calibration.
Calibration Points Specifies the number of calibration points expected to register.
Calibration Status (Point Provides the status of point registration calibration.
Registration)
Target Specifies calibration target. Circle indicates calibration uses findCircle tool. Pattern indicates
calibration uses PatMax tool.
Target Edit Opens an edit control for advanced settings on calibration target.
Point Registration Allows you to specify points of calibration including robot X, robot Y, and point #. Number of
points must not exceed Cal Points.
Calibrate (Point Runs calibration on points of calibration.
Registration)
Uncalibrate (Point Forgets current calibration from point registration.
Registration)

The top portion is a standard checkerboard calibration. For more information, see Checkerboard Calibration on page 57.

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How to Set up HandEye2D Calibration in Robot Mode

1. Set the Cal Points for the calibration.
2. Choose the Target Type (Circle or Pattern find) and configure the tool using the Edit Target button.
3. Run the job to verify that the target is found.
4. Register calibration points (repeat the following steps for each point to add).
a. Set the Point # .
b. Enter the Robot X coordinate.
c. Enter the Robot Y coordinate.

d. Click Register Point.

5. Compute the calibration after all points are registered by clicking Calibrate.

Motion Stage Mode

Motion stage works similarly to robot mode except motion stage includes advanced features such as RealPart targets that
allow you to use multiple features as points of reference when calibrating rather than using a checkerboard calibration plate.
Motion stage mode also uses algorithms to either find the fastest way of calibrating or is exhaustive in the calibration process
for more accuracy.
When selecting motion stage as the Hand Eye mode, the following control pops up under the Calibrate section in inspection
settings.

Name Description
Target Calibration target to look out for. Checkerboard uses checkerboard pattern on
calibration plates. RealPart bases calibration off features in an image as reference
points (Alignment finder tool is necessary to generate these points prior to setting this
configuration).
Fiducial Style Point of reference within target to locate.
Algorithm Algorithm when running calibration process. This is split into two types:
l Exhaustive: Thorough process of calibration (higher accuracy, longer cycle
time).
l Efficient: Quick and less detailed calibration (shorter cycle time, lower
accuracy).

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Skip Image In normal conditions, the application corrects any image distortion. If application is
Correction time critical, Skip Image Correction skips the process.

Note: Skip Image Correction results in less accuracy.

Calibration Status Indicates if the system is calibrated.

Report Generates performance report on alignment calibration.

Algorithm specifies the method by which calibration occurs. The different algorithms are:
l Standard - Runs calibration at moderate pace with default parameters.
l Exhaustive – When dealing with issues such as poor image quality, this algorithm spends more time searching for
the calibration target and processing the fiducial points in the image.
l ExhaustiveMultiRegion – Follows same process as exhaustive but focuses on multiple regions in image for
calibration.
l Efficient – Extracts calibration features in fastest cycle time. Less accurate than exhaustive.
l EfficientMultiRegion – Same process as efficient but focuses on multiple regions in image for calibration.

Report generates a performance report based on the accuracy of the calibration process. The report information includes:
l Camera Pose in Home2D – X, Y, and theta positions of the camera relative to robot home position.
l Home2DFromCamera2D – Offset between camera and robot coordinate systems.
l Home2D – Robot Home Position.
l Raw2D – Raw uncalibrated position (in pixels).
l Quality – Overall accuracy of camera coordinate system.

The report also includes a table of the robot calibration points and their points of accuracy.

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How to set up HandEye2D Calibration in Motion Stage Mode

Checkerboard Calibration for Motion Stage Mode

1. Set Target to Checkerboard.
2. Set Fiducial Style (Standard, DataMatrix, or DataMatrixWithGridPitch are recommended).
3. Set the algorithm. (Efficient for quick calibration and exhaustive for more accurate calibration).
4. If your application is time critical, enable Skip Image Distortion to skip the correction for image distortion.
5. Follow the steps in TCP Interface to run the calibration.

RealPart Calibration
1. Set the Target to Realpart.
2. Go to Alignment Finder tool.

3. Acquire an image of actual part to be inspected.

4. Set the points of reference either through pattern or corner type.
5. Train the points.
6. Go back to Calibrate.
7. Set Part Features to output of Alignment Finder tool.
8. Follow the steps in TCP Interface to run calibration.

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TCP Interface
1. Start a TCP listener.
2. Use the following command to start registering points for calibration:
StartC,<camera_name>

Note: The camera_name is the name of the camera running calibration.

3. Use the following command to register points in motion stage mode prior to ending calibration. You can calibrate a
maximum of 99 points with a minimum of 3 points.
HECAL,<camera_name>,<point_number>,<X>,<Y>,<Theta>
l The point_number is the numbered point (starting from 1).
l X is the motion stage X coordinate for the point.
l Y is the motion stage Y coordinate for the point.
l Theta is the angle/pose of the point.
4. Repeat Step 3 for all points you want to register.
5. Use the following command to end calibration and calculate the coordinate system:
EndC,<camera_name>

Image Filtering

Name Description
Operation Options for operations to run on images for filtering
Magnitude Number of times the filter is run (constant in multiply mode)

Image Filtering Operations

You can apply the following operations to images:
l Dilate: Dilates image. Increasing magnitude increases dilation effect.
l Erode: Reduces details in the image. Increasing magnitude increases erosion effect.
l Open: Reduce outside barrier of image.
l Close: Reduce outside barrier of image.
l Multiply: Multiplies contrast or exposure rate by a factor specified by user.
l Custom: Custom user-defined filter, allows editing of Image Filtering toolblock to create custom rules for tool.

Change the Magnitude to change the number of times the filter runs (or the constant in Multiply mode).

Image Conversion
Converts the input image into different format.

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Name Description
Input Image Choose which image to run the conversion on.
Region Edit Edit the Region to run the conversion tool on.
Mode Choose which image format to convert to.

The three modes of conversion are:

l Intensity
l IntensityFromWeightedRGB
l PixelFromRange

Converting Images to Greyscale

To convert images over to Greyscale, you need to use the Intensity setting:

1. Load the image to convert.

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2. Add an image conversion tool and set the settings:

l Image: Raw
l Region: Entire Image
l Mode: Intensity

3. Reload the inspection settings, and view the <ConversionToolName> filter.

Fixturing
Creates a 2D fixtured image. You can use the fixturing tool with the Pattern tool to center the fixture in reference to the pattern
result.

Name Description
Input Image Image to be used as reference
Fixture X X coordinate of Fixture
Fixture Y Y coordinate of Fixture
Fixture Rotation Angle of Rotation of Fixture

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Fixtures provide a reference point that other tools can use to position themselves. The reference point can also be used to
position graphics in an image.

Coordinate Spaces
Coordinate Spaces provide references for the locations of points.
The three types of Coordinate Spaces are:
l Root Space
l User Space
l Pixel Space

Root Space
A left-handed coordinate system perfectly aligns with the pixels of an acquired image prior to any image processing.

User Space
Use User-defined Coordinate Spaces to create and manipulate calibrated spaces and fixtures. When defining a user space,
you determine:
l Units
l Handedness
l Relation to the root space of the Image

Pixel Space
Pixel space is similar to root space in that:
l Origin is always in the upper-left corner
l Space corresponds to the image pixels

However, pixel space does not readjust itself to reflect the effects of image processing.

Note: Applications rarely use pixel space.

Coordinate Space Trees

Coordinate space trees contain:

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l Root space of the Image

l All user spaces created
l Relation between each space (such as Transformation)

Create a Fixture
To create and set a fixture point, you need an image and a reference point within the image to center the fixture on. The
example shows the pattern tool.

1. Load an image.
2. Create and train a pattern tool off a part within the image that you plan to use as a fixture.
3. Add a fixture tool and set the image to Raw.

4. Set the Fixture X, Y, and Rot to the X, Y, and Rot of the trained pattern.

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5. The fixture is now set.

Pattern
The pattern tool uses the VisionPro PatMax tool. Use the pattern tool to train models on specific parts in an image. The tool is
contour-based and uses contrast in the image to find edges to generate a pattern to train the model off of.

Name Description
Input Image Reference image to use for training.
Train Runs training process.
Search Region Edit Edit region to limit area of search when looking for trained pattern.
Train Status Status on whether a model is trained.
Train Region Edit Edit region to limit area to train on.
Search/Accept Limits Set limits to restrict search and accept criteria.
Score with Clutter Includes clutter in the score.

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Invert Result Fails an image if the pattern is found.

Show Search Region Show or hide the search region.
Center Origin On Train Centers the origin when training.
Show Match Features Show or hide the match features.
Show Match Pose Show or hide the match pose.
Separate +/- Limits Separates the positive and negative limits.

Train a Pattern in an Image

1. Select the input image.

2. Edit Train Region to focus only on the part that you want to train.
3. Optional: Edit Search Region to limit area of search.
4. Click Train to run the pattern training.
5. Modify the search or accept limits.
6. Optional: Modify the additional parameters.

Histogram
Use the histogram tool to run statistical measurements on the pixels within a region of an image. The statistical
measurements can find the mean, median, standard deviation, and variance of the pixel values. This generates a histogram
of the pixel values and the number of each pixel value that appears within the image.

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Name Description
Input Image Image to use with histogram tool.
Edit Region Allows you to limit region to run histogram tool on.
Average Mean value of pixels within the region.
Contrast Difference between light and dark pixels.
Light # The number of light pixels in the image.
Dark # The number of dark pixels in the image.
Total Pixel Count Total pixel count of region used in histogram tool.
Threshold Limit to differentiate between object and background pixels.
Show Search Region Displays the search region bounding box within an image.
Use as Lighting Check Turns on LightingNOK bit in EtherInspect status word if tool fails.

Blob Tools

Name Description
Input Image Image to use with blob tool.

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Edit Region Limit region to search for blobs.

# Found Number of blobs found in region.
Area Area of individual blobs in region.
Light on Dark Search for light blobs on dark backgrounds.
Dark on Light Search for dark blobs on light backgrounds.
Intensity Threshold for light versus dark. -1 is automatic threshold.
Clean Up Method to resolve multiple blob detections in the same area of interest.
l None: No method used.
l Prune: Removes noise from blob detections.
l Fill: Combines multiple blob detections in the same region as a
singular blob
Show Search Region Show or hide search region.
Show Found Blobs Show or hide found blobs.

Measure Tools

Name Description
Input Image The image the measure (caliper) tool uses.
Edit Region Limit region to focus on when finding edges, setting a region is required to run the tool.
Edge Mode Determines method of searching for edges (Single, Pair).
Scoring Mode Limit which edges are shown in the image based on their score (Best, First, Last, All).
Contrast Defines the minimum contrast need to find an edge.
Filter Size Specifies the number of half pixels on both sides of an edge for it to qualify.
Edge Polarity Determine the polarity when searching for edges.
Found Lists the number of found edges and allows user to provide minimum or maximum constraints.

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Show Found Edges Show or hide found edges.

Show Search Region Show or hide search region.

When editing the region, an arrow is on the bounding box:

The arrow determines the scan direction of the caliper tool. In the image above, the tool looks for edges from left to right. This
is important when sorting out scored edges.
The two edge modes when dealing with the caliper tool are:

l Single Edge: Looks for individual edges (counts each individual edge).
l Pair Edge: Looks for a pair of edges (counts two edges as one pair).

Edge Polarity determines whether to find an edge going from dark-to-light pixels, light-to-dark pixels, or both (DontCare).
Scoring mode are different when switching between single edge and pair mode.

Single Edge
Single Edge mode looks for individual edges within a region of interest. The edges that the tool finds can be filtered based on
Scoringmode and Edge Polarity.
The four options for Scoring settings for the edge mode are:
l All:Find all edges in the group.

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l First: Find the first edge in the group.

l Last: Find the last edge in the group.

l Best: Find the edge with the highest score in the group.

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Pair Edge
In pair mode, the tool counts two consecutive edges as one pair. This can also be filtered using Scoring mode and Edge
Polarity. When setting up an edge pair, the polarity of each edge can be specified. In the examples, edge 0 has a polarity of
DarkToLight while edge 1 has a polarity of LightToDark.
The Scoring setting for this edge mode has four options:
l Narrowest: Looks for the edge pair with the shortest distance between them.

l Widest: Looks for the edge pair with the longest distance between them.

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l WidestContinuous: Looks for the edge pair with the longest distance and contains the same contrast of pixels
between the two.

l Strongest: Looks for the edge pair with the strongest contrast between the inside and outside of the edge pair.

Find Line Tools

Uses a series of caliper tools over a specified region to locate multiple edge points to draw out a line of best fit while
minimizing the root mean square (RMS) error.

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Name Description
Input Image Image to use with find line tool.
Edit Region Define region of interest when finding line, region uses affline rectangle to define where the line is
expected.
Scoring Filter edges based on scoring.
Contrast Defines the minimum contrast needed to find a line.
Filter Size Defines half pixel width to filter lines.
Polarity Method to find lines based on dark and light pixels.
Number of Points Number of calipers that are created.
Angle The angle that the found line is at.
Show Caliper Show or hide caliper regions.
Regions
Show Search Show or hide search region.
Region

Example of the Find Line result:

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Find Circle Tools

Uses a series of calipers to find a circular region within an image.

Name Description
Input Image Image to be used in find circle tool.
Edit Region Define region of interest when finding circle, region uses circular annulus to define where the circle is
expected.
Scoring Mode Filter circles based on score.
Contrast Minimum contrast to find a line.
Filter Size Define half pixel width to filter circles.
Polarity Method to find circles based on dark and light pixels.
Number of Points Number of calipers that are created.

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Radius Radius of found circle.

Show Caliper Show or hide caliper regions.
Regions
Show Search Show or hide search region.
Region

When editing a region, you can rotate, expand, and compress the circle annulus region of interest.

When the tool runs, calipers are placed within the region of interest to find points on the circle.

The Scoring mode works similarly to the single edge scoring mode in the Find Line tool. The tool uses the Scoring mode
when there is more than one circle in its region of interest. If the region of interest only containd a single circle, use the Best
for the scoring mode.
There are four scoring mode options:
l First: Finds the innermost circle in the region.
l Last: Finds the outermost circle in the region.
l Best: Finds the circle with the highest score.
l All: Finds all circles in the region.

Polarity determines whether the tool searches for points on the circle based on dark-to-light pixels, light-to-dark, or both.

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Codes (1D and 2D codes)

Finds barcodes, QR, and Data Matrix codes. Decodes string from code.

Name Description
Input Image Image to run code scan on.
Edit Region Limit region of interest for code scanning.
Scan Mode Choose category of code you are reading.
Code Type Defines type of code to expect.
Read String String read from code.
Match String Reference string to expect .
Show Search Region Show or hide the search region.
Grading Enables Data Matrix Grading.

Example of a Codes tool result:

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Color Segmenter
Creates a binary image from a color image, based on selected HSI values.

Name Description
Input Image Image to run color segmentation.
Edit Region Limit region of interest for color segmenter tool.
Add/Remove Color Add or remove color of your choice, prompted for sample.
Select Color Select color from list of created colors.

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HSI values Retrieves HSI values and specifies range of color to look for.
Color Histogram Allows you to modify HSI values and view histogram results.
Show Processing Region Show or hide processing region.
Hist Display Region Specify which region in image to search for color for histogram results.

When adding a color to the list, you are prompted to provide a sample from the image. This goes into Edit Region mode
where you can place the rectangle in a region that focuses on the target color. From there, you can pick the color form the list
within Select Color and see the HSI values of it. You can then click Hist Display Region to select a region of the image
where you want to actively search for that color. This generates a binary image where instances of that color appear in white.

Note: The Hist Display Region serves as essentially a color tester.

2D Geometry
Use the 2D Geometry tool to run geometrical computations based on points provided to it in 2D space. 2D Geometry tool can
be useful in finding the distance between two points or drawing a line from two points.

LineFrom2Points Tool
Generates and draws line from one point to another. Use fixture points to set up the tool.

Name Description
Image Input image used in 2D Geometry tool.
Mode Computation Mode.
Point Configuration Sets points to run computations.
Found Angle Provides angle of line found from computation.
Midpoint Information Provides midpoint X and Y of line.

Example of the LineFrom2Points tool results:

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IntersectionOf2Lines Tool
Finds the intersection point of two lines.

Example of the IntersectionOf2Lines tool results:

DistancePointToPoint Tool
Finds the distance between two points. Enter the X and Y values for the two points to find the distance. The distance is
usually in pixel measurements. If you calibrate EtherInspect for metric or imperial units, the distance is converted to metric or
imperial units.

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Cross Section
Finds the cross section of a 3D image based on parameters.

Name Description
Show Region Show or hide region.
Region Edit the region.
Profile from Other Tool If checked, choose another tool from the dropdown menu.
Show Feature Graphics Show or hide feature graphics.
Fixturing Expand Fixturing to enter an existing or new fixture.
Tolerances Expand Tolerances to enter a tolerance, if available.

Image Crop
Crops an image. Useful for creating an image separate from the original which allows you to run separate tools in a focused
region.

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Name Description
Input Image Image to be used for cropping.
Edit Region Selects a region to crop down.
Region Size Size of region, auto-fills once region is adjusted.
Center Region Centers region with image space.
Start Position Start X and Start Y of region, auto-fills once region is adjusted.

Note: After you specify the region and the tool runs once, a filter appears in the image view that you can select to view
the cropped image.

Custom ToolBlocks
Allows you to add and edit your own custom VisionPro toolblocks. Any inputs you add to the custom toolblock appear as a
control in the Custom ToolBlocks section.

Custom Toolblock UI Controls

Input Image
Adding an input terminal of type ICogImage allows you to link that image in the UI.

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1. Select Add new Cognex.VisionPro.ICogImage.

2. Select the InputImage to link.

3. Select InputImage in the Tools tab.

4. Choose the filter for the InputImage.

Number Picker
The Number Picker requires two input terminals. Use one to define type or value, and the other to set the UI properties.

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DemoNumber is the default value while _DemoNumber is to define additional properties of the UI control.

Note: Using only the DemoNumber input does not create any UI control. The value of the UI control is based on main
terminal.

The string type and value of the _DemoNumber is in a specific format:

{type}, {display_name}, {min_value}, {max_value}

l {type}: Must be Integer.

l {display_name}: Label text for Number Picker.
l {min_value}: Minimum allowed value of number picker.
l {max_value}: Maximum allowed value of number picker.

Example: Integer, Select Number, 0 , 200

Label
The Label control only requires one input terminal. You can label sections of tools.

The string type and value of the _DemoLabel is in a specific format:

{type}, {display_name}

l {type}: Must be Label

l {display_name}: Text for label.

Example: Label, Demo Text

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Check Box
The Check Box control requires two input terminals. Use one to define type or value and the other to set the UI properties.

DemoChkbox is the default value while _DemoChkbox is to define additional properties of the UI control.

Note: Using only the DemoChkbox input does not create any UI control. The value of the UI control is based on main
terminal.

The string type and value of the _DemoChkbox is in a specific format:

{type}, {display_name}

l {type}: Must be CheckBox.

l {display_name}: Label text for Check Box.

Example: CheckBox, Please select

Dropdown
The Dropdown control requires two input terminals. Use one to define type or value and the other to set the UI properties.

DemoDropDown is the default value while _DemoDropDown is to define additional properties of the UI control.

Note: Using only the DemoDropDown input does not create any UI control. The value of the UI control is based on
main terminal.

The string type and value of the _DemoDropDown is in a specific format:

{type}, {display_name}, {comma_separated_values}

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l {type}: Must be ComboBox.

l {display_name}: Label text for Combo Box.
l {comma_separated_values}: List down all the values you want in the dropdown menu as comma-separated.

Example: ComboBox, Select Part, Part A, Part B, Part C

Float
The Float control requires two input terminals. Use one to define type or value and the other to set the UI properties.

DemoFloat is the default value while _DemoFloat is to define additional properties of the UI control.

Note: Using only the DemoFloat input does not create any UI control. The value of the UI control is based on main
terminal.

The string type and value of the _DemoFloat is in a specific format:

{type}, {display_name}, {min_value}, {max_value}

l {type}: Must be Float.

l {display_name}: Label text for Float.
l {min_value} : Minimum allowed value of number picker.
l {max_value}: Maximum allowed value of number picker.

Example: Float, Select Float, 2.0, 5.0

Text Input
The Text Input control requires two input terminals. Use one to define type or value and the other to set the UI properties.

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DemoText is the default value while _DemoText is to define additional properties of the UI control.

Note: Using only the DemoText input does not create any UI control. The value of the UI control is based on main
terminal.

The string type and value of the _DemoText is in a specific format:

{type}, {display_name}

l {type}: Must be TextBox.

l {display_name}: Label text for the Text Box.

Example: TextBox, Enter Text Here

Tool Edit Button

The Text Edit Button control requires only one input terminal.

The string type and value of the _DemoButton is in a specific format:

{type}, {display_name}, {tool_name}

l {type}: Must be Button.

l {display_name}: Label text for the button.
l {tool_name}: Name of the tool.

Example: Button, Edit Pattern Tool, CogPMAlignTool1

C# Scripting
Scripting Tool
Use the tool to create and edit scripts.

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Click Edit Script to open the Script Editor

When multiple scripts are created within the scripting tool, each script runs sequentially starting with script 1 onward. The
scripts run after image acquisition. If there are no inspections to run and the image view is blank, the script does not run.

Script Editor
Allows editing the C# code used in the EtherInspect scripting environment.

Number Name Description

1 Function Library Contains a list of commonly used functions
and EtherInspect toolblock functions
including VisionPro references. Allows user
to easily add code functions to program.
2 Code Editor Allows you to edit code. All code must be
placed inside Run() function in order for it to
execute.
3 Debug Mode Enabling this feature and recompiling
enables a stack trace with line numbers
when an exception occurs within the script
during execution.
4 Font Size Changes size of font in code editor.
5 Show References Show list of all DLLs that are included when
script is compiled.

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6 Compile Compiles script without running it. Errors

show in log area.
7 Run Compiles if needed and executes script.
8 Log Shows any exceptions or errors that occur
within the script upon compiling the code.
Shows line number and potentially shows
stack trace if Debug Mode is enabled.

Note: Use EtherInspect scripts instead of VisionPro scripts. VisionPro scripts are only supported in Custom ToolBlocks.

Write Tag Function

The Write Tag function updates the value of an OUTPUT PLC tag linked to EtherInspect. If there is a valid tag added to the
tags list under Setup Tags, then you can access it in the Function Library to the left by going to I/O > Write Tag and
expanding the function.

Read Tag Function

The Read Tag function reads the value of an INPUT PLC tag linked to EtherInspect. If there is a valid tag added to the tags
list under Setup Tags, then you can access it in the Function Library to the left by going to I/O > Read Tag and expanding
the function.

Write and Read Instance Tags

Instance tags are specific to an EtherInspect instance. Instance tags are a type of application tag used to control the flow of
an instance. Reading and writing to an instance tag is similar to Write Tag and Read Tag functions.

Script Function Dialog

Use the Script Function dialog to add functions to an image. Generated code is pasted into the script.

Function Setting Generated Code

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Set PLC Sets the result of a feature within PLC.

Feature

l Feature Number: Select feature number to set

the result.
l Passed: Check if you want to set the features
passed.
Set
Feature
Name

l Feature Number: Select feature number to set

the name.
l Name: Enter the name you want to set to the
feature.
Write
Feature
Word

l Tag: Select the tag name from list.

l Word Number: Set the word number.

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Add Label Adds a label to the image view based on the

parameters you set.

l Text: Enter the text you want to set within the

label.
l X Coord: Set the label X coordinate of the
label.
l Y Coord: Set the label Y coordinate of the
label.
l Color: Select the color of the text from the list.
l Alignment: Select the label text alignment.
l Font size: Adjust the font size.
l Background Color: Select the background
color.
l Image Coordinate Space Name: Set the
coordinate space (“@”, “.”, “#”) (Can further
expand on this using “/” followed by the name
of the fixture point you want to base the
coordinate space off).

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Add Adds a rectangle to the image view based on the

Rectangle parameters you set.

l X Coord: Set the X coordinate of the rectangle.

l Y Coord: Set the Y coordinate of the rectangle.
l Height: Set the height of the rectangle.
l Width: Set the width of the rectangle.
l Color: Select the color of the rectangle.
l Image Coordinate Space Name: Set the
coordinate space.
Add Circle Adds a circle to the image view based on the
parameters you set.

l X Coord: Set the X coordinate of the circle.

l Y Coord: Set the Y coordinate of the circle.
l Radius: Radius of the circle.
l Color: Select the color of the circle.
l Image Coordinate Space Name: Set the
coordinate space.

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Add Adds a crosshair to the image view based on the

Crosshair parameters you set.

l X Coord: Set the X coordinate of the crosshair.

l Y Coord: Set the Y coordinate of the crosshair.
l Rotation: Rotation of the crosshair.
l Size: Size of the crosshair.
l Line Thickness: Thickness of the crosshair
line.
l Color: Select the color of the crosshair.
l Image Coordinate Space Name: Set the
coordinate space.
Calculate Returns the distance between two points. Returns
DIstance pixel measurements if not calibrated.

l X1: X coordinate of the first point.

l Y1: Y coordinate of the first point.
l X2: X coordinate of the second point.
l Y2: Y coordinate of the second point.
Covert Converts value in radius to value in degrees.
Radius to
Degree

l Radians: Enter radius value you want to

convert to degree.

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Line Generates a line segment from the points that are

Segment provided.
From
Points

l X1: X coordinate of first point of the line.

l Y1: Y coordinate of first point of the line.
l X2: X coordinate of second point of the line.
l Y2: Y coordinate of second point of the line.
Distance Finds the distance from a given point to a line segment.
Point to
Line

l X1: X coordinate of point.

l Y1: Y coordinate of point.
l Line Segment: Name of the line segment that
you want to use for the measurement.
Log Entry Adds a log entry to the information log.

l Level: Select the log level of entry. It could be

Debug, Info, Warning, or Error.
l Message: Text message you want to enter.

Script UI Controls
EtherInspect allows you to make your own user-defined controls using scripting.
By creating public static properties at the beginning of a script file, you can modify values at runtime without editing the script.
Placing an attribute called UserSetting before the variable definition allows you to define a display name for that value within
the controls and reserves an area to place a user-defined control in.

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Example of the controls created by the script:

File Options
Allows loading or saving jobs and images, and setting startup jobs.

Name Description
Save Job Saves Job to disk, need to specify name of job to save as.
Save Result Saves inspection results including PNG and XML.
Load Job Loads a job from disk into selected camera.
Load Image Loads image from disk for inspection.
Job Selection Type Specify method to select job as startup job.
Startup Online When application starts up and job loads, go into AUTO mode.
Job Specify job to use as startup job.

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Image Save Options

Image Save Options has settings for image save types, and also allows playing back images.

Number Name Description

1 Image Save Filter Allows you to filter which images to save based on inspection result. The four
options are:
l NONE: No images.
l FAIL: Any images that failed inspection.
l PASS: Any images that passed inspection.
l ALL: Save both types of images.
2 Image Type Allows you to choose what type of format you want the images to be saved in. The
five supported image types are:
l BMP
l PNG
l JPG
l CDB
l WEBP

When both of the above settings are set, the images are saved to the directory as
specified by the Storage Directory setting. Within specified directory, images are
saved to <CameraName>/Images/<JobName>.
3 Image Playback Opens the Image Playback Options display. A dialog opens to search for
Options images within a directory. You can filter out PASS or FAIL images.
4 Last Image Opens the last image.
5 Next Image Opens the next image.
6 Play Starts image playback.
7 Previous Image Opens the previous image.
8 First Image Opens the first image.

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9 Playback Rate Allows you to choose when the image playback stops. The four options are:
l Continuous: Loop images over and over.
l RunToEnd: Playback images until end of folder is reached.
l StopOnFail: Stop on image with FAIL inspection.
l StopOnPass: Stop on image with PASS inspection.
10 HMI Image Output Enables saving a thumbnail image with graphics.

Image Playback Options

Sets criteria to search for images to be played.

Number Description
1 Folder Path
2 Browse Folders
3 Serial Number
4 Search Folder
5 Date Time Range Filter
6 Pass/Fail Filter

Communications
Displays PLC connection state. Allows viewing IO and editing Tags.

l Setup Tags - Shows Setup Tags Display

l View I/O – Shows Tag States Display

Tag States
Shows current values of PLC Tags and current state of camera thread, 100 ms refresh rate.

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Each tag state is represented by a bit with its corresponding state that it represents being next to the status bit.

Bit State Description

0 Online Camera is online and in AUTO mode.
1 Toggle Camera trigger confirmed.
2 Save Error Error saving image.
3 Busy Busy acquiring image that is already in buffer.
4 Quality Submit Error Error sending data to QualityWorX.
5 Image Error Error acquiring image.
6 Trigger Ready Camera ready to trigger.
7 Exposure Complete Image exposure acquisition complete.
8 Unused Unused bit.
9 Unused Unused bit.
10 Global Pass Job passed inspection.
11 Global Fail Job passed inspection.
12 Results Ready Job results are ready to send.
13 LightingNOK Light controller faulted.
14 TurnLightOn Triggers light controller if configured.

Setup Tags
Allows editing tags and displaying current values.

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The functions of the Setup Tag settings are:

l Tag Help: Shows the Tag Help Display, with information on tag functions and valid data types.
l Edit PLCs: Shows the Edit PLCs Display, to add or delete PLC assignments.
l Refresh Tags: Reloads the tags and updates the values.
l Save Tags: Saves any newly added, removed, or updated tags. Closing the Setup Tags display also triggers this
function.

Tag Types
EtherInspect has two types of tags:
l Input: Reads incoming data coming from the PLC.
l Output: Writes to outgoing data to the PLC.

Both tag sections contain a list of PLC tags that link with the PLC server selected.

Tag Attributes
The attributes to a tag in EtherInspect are:
l Function: Tag function to be used with EtherInspect. If not custom, the tag uses built-in function to grab a certain
value from the PLC.
l Name: Name of tag. Does not have to be named after variable or tag in PLC. The value is only referenced when there
are tags with the same function to differentiate between them.
l Data Type: Data type of tag value.
l Elements: Number of items stored in the tag.
l Address: Memory address of tag that refers to variable or tag in PLC.
l Value: Current value of tag.

Tag Help
Shows information on tag functions and valid data types.

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Edit PLCs
Allows editing PLC connections. You can only use one PLC vendor at one time.

Allen-Bradley PLC Information

For Allen-Bradley PLCs, if you experience slow communication, increase the System Overhead Time Slice setting in the
processor.

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Siemens PLC Information

For Siemens PLCs, if you experience slow communication, increase the CPU Load due to communication value as
needed, up to 50%.

TIA Portal
The TIA Portal option is under CPU Properties > General > Communication Load.

Simatic Manager Step 7

To modify communication load, use the Scan Cycle Load from Communication setting.
To access the setting:

1. Double-click the CPU in the list.

2. Go to the Cycle/Clock Memory tab.
3. If the CPU is for communication purposes, increase the Scan Cycle Load from Communication value as needed,
up to 50%.

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4. Monitor the cycle time from the HW config:

a. Go to HW Config > Open Station Online.
b. Select the PLC.
c. Right-click your PLC.
d. Go to Module Information.
e. Click the Scan Cycle Time tab.
5. Adjust scan cycle load until you achieve the desired performance.

Siemens S7-1200 / S7-1500 Settings

If you receive the error code 0xffff8104 or 0x00008104 when reading or writing from a Siemens S7-1200 or S7-1500 with
firmware version 4.0 or higher, change the Protection setting in TIA Portal.

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To change the protection settings:

1. Open the PLC project in the S7 TIA Portal software.

2. Go to Project View.
3. In the Project Tree window, select the device causing the error.
4. Click Alt+Enter to open the Properties dialog.
5. On the general tab, select Protection.
6. Make sure you check one of the following options:
l Full Access (No Protection)
l Read Access
l HMI Access
7. Check Permit Access with Put/Get communication with remote partner.
8. Click OK to save the settings.
9. Compile and save project. Download modified program to controller

Beckhoff PLC Information

For Beckhoff PLCs, install a driver package. Either install the Beckhoff TC1000 ADS router or the complete TwinCAT3 suite.

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Information Log
Shows log entries, holds 1000 entries in memory, and all are logged to the disk.
The information log includes five levels of log entries:
l INFO: High-Level log of the process flow of EtherInspect.
l WARN: Warnings (highlighted in yellow in the INFO log) notifying the user of any important events to monitor.
l ERROR: Errors and exceptions (highlighted in red in the INFO log) that occurred during the current instance of
EtherInspect.
l FATAL: Errors that EtherInspect cannot recover from, causing the application to shut down immediately.
l DEBUG: Extensive debug information on processes and events occurring within EtherInspect. Available through the
Log Viewer Display.

Note: Within the minimized log, the most recent log entries appear from top to bottom.

Click Filter to flush the logs to disk and show the Log Viewer Display.
Click Clear to clear the visible display. Log files are unaffected.

Log Viewer
Allows viewing and filtering log files from different cameras or sessions in EtherInspect.
The log viewer shows an additional level of log:

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Number Setting
1 Toggle Session
2 Log Level
3 Camera Filter
4 Font Size
5 Highlight Warnings & Errors
6 Open Specific Log

Note: Within the expanded log view, the most recent log entries appear from bottom to top.

Exporting Log Files

To export a log file within a certain time frame, specify the dates in the top right after expanding the information log and click
Export.

This prompts you to specify a location to save the .txt file. To export the log for the current day, keep the end date as today
and set the start date to the previous day.

Status Bar
The status bar displays the currently logged-in user, date, and time. The status bar is located at the bottom of the window.

Versions Display
Shows version info of EtherInspect system and DLLs that are used (including templates). Click the EtherInspect logo in the
bottom left corner of the screen to open the versions dialog.

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Image Display
Shows camera image with graphics.

Note: In MultiCam mode, the image has a title.

Number Name Description

1 Image Image acquired from camera or loaded from file.
2 Image Filter Drop-down menu to choose between different image filters
generated by tools.
3 Graphics Changes graphics overlay option (All graphics, Fail Only graphics,
No graphics).

Click anywhere in the image shows the pixel coordinates of that point.

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Right-click the image to show additional options:

Number Name
1 Pointer Modes
2 Show and Hide Features
3 Fit and Zoom
4 Auto Fit
5 Miscellaneous Options

Color Map
The Color Map feature allows you to modify the distribution of colors within an image.
The four types of color maps are:
l Greyscale
l Thermal
l Height
l Custom

You can tune the color map to make parts of the image stand out. This can be useful when you have a 3D image with
embossed letters, and you want the letters to stand out in the image.

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Color maps are for display only and are not for processing or image acquisition. VisionPro tools use the original image, which
can detect very small contrast differences. If additional contrast is necessary for vision tools, image filters should be used.
When setting the Visible Pixel Mask, you can select the color that missing pixels are displayed as, such as black.

Name Description
Predefined Colormaps Choose color map type.
Tune / Reset Tune the color map after making changes or reset to default.
Max Color Range Maximum range of hue.
Color Spectrum Mapping of pixel values with color.
Min Color Range Minimum range of hue.
Save Save current color map.
Load Load a color map from file.

Example (Thermal):

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Camera List
The UI shows the settings of the camera. Clicking a camera makes its configurations, tools, and image feed display to the
right.

Number Identifier
1 Camera Name
2 Camera Type (Real, Virtual, Hybrid, or Simulator)
3 Running Mode (Auto or Manual)
4 Inspection Status (Pass or Fail)

Additional Camera Settings

Right-click on a camera to open the settings.

MultiCam View
MultiCam View displays images from all cameras on one or more pages. You can add multiple pages to MultiCam View
based on camera settings. Click the button again to change to the next page if configured.
Click the following icon in the top right corner of the EtherInspect window to open MultiCam View.

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Click the button again to go to the next page of cameras, if configured.

In the settings of each camera, two settings change the look and feel of the MultiCam view: MultiCam Page # and MultiCam
Sort Order.
l MultiCam Page # sets the page number that the camera appears on. You can have a maximum of four pages in
MultiCam view, each with a set of camera views.
l MultiCam Sort Order determines the order that the camera on the page it is assigned to. You can have up to 20
cameras on one page. The order of cameras appear from left to right, starting from top to bottom.

Rename the Camera

Allows you to rename a camera.

1. Right-click on the camera to open the additional settings.

2. Select Rename. The Rename Camera dialog opens.
3. Type in the new name for the camera.
4. Press OK.

Camera Replacement Display

Allows you to swap a camera with one of a different serial number. Right-click on the camera to open the additional settings.
Click Replace Camera to open the Camera Replacement dialog.

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EtherInspect Remote Interfaces

For all these interfaces, EtherInspect acts as the server and listens on the specified port.

Interface Name Connection Method Description

HANDEYE2D PLC PLC Tag Interface Interface for performing robot hand-eye calibration
CONTROL INTERFACE through PLC tags.
TCP REMOTE INTERFACE TCP Port 9000 + Instance # General remote-control interface over TCP socket.
(9001 – 9006)
RESTFUL WEB SERVER HTTP Port 80 + Instance # (81 – RESTful web services interface for remote control.
86)
IMAGE WEB SERVER HTTP Port 80 Serves camera images for PLC HMIs.
VISIONLINE INTERFACE TCP Port 52000 Allows remote control from Trumpf laser.

HandEye2D PLC Control Interface

The HandEye2D tool supports a ToolBlock terminal-based interface that can be linked to PLC tags for control.
Some parts of calibration are manual, such as setting the number of points and configuring the calibration target finder (circle
or pattern).

Inputs
The inputs are RobotX, RobotY, and Command.
RobotX: Double value representing the X value of the location in the coordinate system of the robot.
RobotY: Double value representing the Y value of the location in the coordinate system of the robot.
Command has several possible values:
l 0 – Do Nothing
l 1 – 90 – Register calibration point 1 – 90

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l 100 – Compute N Point calibration

l 150 – Calibrate checkerboard

Outputs
The outputs are RMSError and Status.
RMSError: The error of the N Point calibration fit. This is the only output if Command 100 is requested.
Status: Indicates the result of a Command. The values are:
l 0 – No Action was taken
l 1 – 90 – Point was registered successfully
l 100 – 190 – Point registration failed
l 198 – Argument Error
l 199 – Calculation Error
l 200 – Calculation Ok

Transmission Control Protocol Remote Interface

You can perform some operations on the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) based remote interface in EtherInspect. Each
application instance has an individual TCP listener. You can separately control each application instance.
After the application is connected to the TCP server on port 9001 for instance 1, or 9002 for instance 2, and so on, you can
execute the commands:

Command Descripti Request Response

on
Cameras Returns CAMERAS; String format - {command},{number_of_camera},{comma_separated_
list of cam_name};
available
cameras Enter a TCP request:
from
Cameras
applicatio
Response Message -> Cameras,3,1_Test_Cam,2_Virtual_
n
Cam,CIC_LineScan;
instance.

Trigger Use the SHOWSINGLEC String format - {command},{result};

command AM,{camera_
to trigger name};
Enter a TCP request :
the camera_name SHOWSINGLECAM,1_Test_Cam
camera. (Datatype –
Response Message -> SHOWSINGLECAM,False;
string) – a valid
camera name.
Use the camera
Note: “NOK” is returned in case of any issue.
name returned
from CAMERAS
command.

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AppName Get the APPNAME; String format - {command},{application_name};

applicatio
n name. Enter a TCP request :
APPNAME
Response Message -> APPNAME,EtherInspectDL;

AppVersion Get the APPVERSION; String format - {command},{application_version};

applicatio
n version. Enter a TCP request :
APPVERSION
Response Message -> APPVERSION,11.3.39-49-G7CFC896;

InstanceNum Get the INSTANCENUM String format - {command},{instance_number};

ber applicatio BER;
n instance Enter a TCP request :
number.
INSTANCENUMBER
Response Message -> INSTANCENUMBER,1;

CameraType Get CAMERATYPE, String format - {command},{camera_type};

camera {camera_
type by name};
Enter a TCP request :
camera camera_name CAMERATYPE,1_Test_Cam
name. (Datatype –
Response Message -> CAMERATYPE,RealCamera;
string) – a valid
camera name.
Use the camera
name returned
from CAMERAS
command.
LoadJob Load job LOADJOB, String format - {command},{result};
by {camera_
number. name},{job_
Enter a TCP request :
number};
LOADJOB,1_Test_Cam
camera_name
Response Message -> LOADJOB,True;
(Datatype –
string) – a valid
camera name
job_number
(Datatype – int)
– a job number
you want to load

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JobName Get JOBNAME, String format - {command},{job_name};

current {camera_
job name name};
Enter a TCP request:
as string. camera_name JOBNAME,1_Test_Cam
(Datatype –
Response Message -> JOBNAME,2_Another_Job;
string) – a valid
camera name
JobNumber Get JOBNUMBER, String format -{command},{job_number};
current {camera_
job name};
Enter a TCP request:
number. camera_name JOBNUMBER,1_Test_Cam
(Datatype –
Response Message -> JOBNUMBER,2;
string) – a valid
camera name
GoAuto Put GOAUTO, String format - {command},{result};
camera {camera_
into auto name};
Enter a TCP request:
mode. camera_name GOAUTO,1_Test_Cam
(Datatype –
Response Message -> GOAUTO,True;
string) – a valid
camera name
GoManual Put GOMANUAL, String format -{command},{result};
camera {camera_
into name};
Enter a TCP request:
manual camera_name GOMANUAL,1_Test_Cam
mode. (Datatype –
Response Message -> GOMANUAL,True;
string) – a valid
camera name
State Get STATE, String format - “{command},{state};”
current {camera_
state of name};
Enter a TCP request:
camera. camera_name STATE,1_Test_Cam
(Datatype –
Response Message -> STATE,Ready;
string) – a valid
camera name
Mode Get MODE, String format -{command},{mode};
current {camera_
trigger name};
Enter a TCP request:
mode. camera_name MODE,1_Test_Cam
(Datatype –
Response Message -> MODE,Manual;
string) – a valid
camera name

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InputTags Returns a INPUTTAGS, String format - {command},{number_of_tags},{comma_separated_

list of {camera_ tag_name};
input tags name};
configure camera_name Enter a TCP request:
d for (Datatype – INPUTTAGS,1_Test_Cam
camera. string) – a valid
Response Message ->
camera name
INPUTTAGS,4,PLCClear,PLCTrigger,Switch,First;

OutputTags Returns a OUTPUTTAGS, String format - {command},{number_of_tags},{comma_separated_

list of {camera_ tag_name};
output name};
tags camera_name Enter a TCP request :
configure (Datatype – OUTPUTTAGS,1_Test_Cam
d for string) – a valid
Response Message ->
camera. camera name
OUTPUTTAGES,4,Heartbeat,Status,CounterEcho,TestSwitch;

InputTagTyp Get data INPUTTAGTYP String format - {command},{tag_type};

e type of E,{camera_
input tag. name},{tag_
Enter a TCP request:
name};
INPUTTAGTYPE,1_Test_Cam,PLCClear
camera_name
Response Message -> INPUTTAGTYPE,System,Boolean;
(Datatype –
string) – a valid
camera name
tag_name
(Datatype –
string) – a valid
tag name. Use
INPUTTAGS to
get list of input
tag names
OutputTagTy Get data OUTPUTTAGTY String format - {command},{tag_type};
pe type of PE,{camera_
output name},{tag_
Enter a TCP request:
tag. name};
OUTPUTTAGTYPE,1_Test_Cam,CounterEcho
camera_name
Response Message -> OUTPUTTAGTYPE,System.Int16;
(Datatype –
string) – a valid
camera name
tag_name
(Datatype –
string) – a valid
tag name. Use
OUTPUTTAGS
to get list of
output tag
names

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ReadInputTa Read String format - {command},{tag_value};

g value of READINPUTTA
input tag. G,{camera_
Enter a TCP request:
name},{tag_
ReadInputTag,1_Test_Cam,PLCTrigger
name};
Response Message -> ReadInputTag,False;
camera_name
(Datatype –
string) – a valid
camera name
tag_name
(Datatype –
string) – a valid
tag name. Use
INPUTTAGS to
get list of input
tag names
ReadOutput Read String format - {command},{tag_value};
Tag value of READOUTPUTT
output AG,{camera_
Enter a TCP request:
tag. name},{tag_
READOUTPUTTAG,1_Test_Cam,CounterEcho
name};
Response Message -> READOUTPUTTAG,0;
camera_name
(Datatype –
string) – a valid
camera name
tag_name
(Datatype –
string) – a valid
tag name,
please use
OUTPUTTAGS
to get list of
output tag
names

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WriteTag Write WRITETAG, String format - {command},{result};

value to {camera_
output name},{tag_
Enter a TCP request:
tag. name},
WRITETAG,1_Test_Cam,TestSwitch,True
{value};
Response Message -> WRITETAG,True;
camera_name
(Datatype –
string) – a valid
camera name Note: Result is true if data was written successfully. Otherwise, the result
is false.
tag_name
(Datatype –
string) – a valid
tag name. Use
OUTPUTTAGS
to get list of
output tag
names
value (Datatype
– object) – value
you want to
write, make sure
datatype is
matching

HandEye2D Calibration TCP Commands

These TCP commands that can initiate HandEye2D Calibration, allowing you to run calibration from a remote system.

Command Description Request Response

StartC Start HandEye2D STARTC,{camera_name}; String format - {command},{result};
calibration. camera_name (Datatype –
string) – a valid camera name Enter a TCP request:
STARTC,1_Test_Cam
Response Message -> STARTC,0;

Note: The result is “1” if successful.

Otherwise, the result is “0”.

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Cal Register HandEye2D CAL,{camera_name}, String format - {command},{result};

calibration point in Robot {point_number},{robot_
mode. X},{robot_Y};
Enter a TCP request:
camera_name (Datatype – CAL,1_Test_Cam,180,100
string) – a valid camera name
Response Message -> CAL,0;
point_number (Datatype – int) –
Cal point number 1 -90
robot_X (Datatype – double) –
Note: The result is “1” if successful.
Robot Pose X Coordinate Otherwise, the result is “0”.
robot_Y (Datatype – double) –
Robot Pose Y Coordinate
HECal Registers HandEye2D HECAL,{camera_name}, String Format – {command},{result};
Calibration point in Motion {point_number},{X},{Y},
Stage mode. {Theta};
Enter a TCP request:
camera_name (Datatype – HeCal,1_AreaScan,1,10,10,90
string) – a valid camera name
Response Message -> HeCal,1;
point_number (Datatype - int) –
Calibration point number (1-90)
X (Datatype – double) – Motion
Note: The result is “1” if successful.
stage Pose X Coordinate Otherwise, the result is “0”.
Y (Datatype - double) – Motion
stage Pose Y Coordinate
Theta (Datatype – double) –
Motion stage pose theta
EndC End HandEye2D calibration ENDC,{camera_name}; String format - {command},{result};
and compute result. camera_name (Datatype –
string) – a valid camera name Enter a TCP request:
ENDC,1_Test_Cam
Response Message -> ENDC,0;

Note: The result is “1” if successful.

Otherwise, the result is “0”.

RESTful Web Service

You can perform some operations on the HTTP RESTful web server interface in EtherInspect. Each application instance has
an individual web server. You can separately control each application instance.
TCP Port: Application instance number + 80. E.g. 81 for the first EtherInspect instance.
{cameraname}: A valid camera name. Use the camera name returned from list of cameras URL.
{jobnumber}: Pass the job number which you want to change before triggering. Use -1 if you want to trigger with the
current job.

URL Returns
http://server-name-or-ip:81/eiremote/v1/version string - remote api version

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http://server-name-or-ip:81/eiremote/v1/appname string - application name

http://server-name-or-ip:81/eiremote/v1/appversion string - EtherInspect application version
http://server-name-or-ip:81/eiremote/v1/instancenumber int - application instance number
http://server-name-or-ip:81/eiremote/v1/cameras string - list of available cameras from application instance
http://server-name-or-ip:81/eiremote/v1/showmulticam boolean (success/fail)

Note: Use the URL request to change the Camera view to

MultiCam.

http://server-name-or-ip:81/eiremote/v1/showsinglecam/ boolean (success/fail)

{cameraname}
Note: Use the URL request to change the Camera view to
single cam.

http://server-name-or-ip:81/eiremote/v1/cameras/ string – camera type name

{cameraname}/typename
http://server-name-or-ip:81/eiremote/v1/cameras/ boolean – inspection result
{cameraname}/trigger
Note: The URL request triggers the camera and runs an
inspection with current job.

http://server-name-or-ip:81/eiremote/v1/cameras/ boolean – inspection result

{cameraname}/trigger/{jobnumber}
http://server-name-or-ip:81/eiremote/v1/cameras/ json based JobResult
{cameraname}/triggerwithresult
http://server-name-or-ip:81/eiremote/v1/cameras/ json based JobResult
{cameraname}/triggerwithresult/{jobnumber}
http://server-name-or-ip:81/eiremote/v1/cameras/ boolean (success/fail)
{cameraname}/loadjob/{jobnumber}
Note: Camera must be in Auto mode.

Note: Uses HTTP PUT command instead of GET.

Example: curl -X PUT
http://10.1.1.1:81/eiremote/v1/cameras/1_
Test/loadjob/3 -d “”

http://server-name-or-ip:81/eiremote/v1/cameras/ string – current job name

{cameraname}/jobname
http://server-name-or-ip:81/eiremote/v1/cameras/ int – current job number
{cameraname}/jobnumber
http://server-name-or-ip:81/eiremote/v1/cameras/ boolean (success/fail)
{cameraname}/goauto
Note: Changes current camera mode to Auto.

Note: Uses HTTP PUT instead of GET. Example: curl

-X PUT
http://10.1.1.1:81/eiremote/v1/cameras/1_
Test/goauto -d “”.

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http://server-name-or-ip:81/eiremote/v1/cameras/ boolean (success/fail)

{cameraname}/gomanual
Note: Changes current camera mode to Manual.

Note: Uses HTTP PUT instead of GET. Example: curl

-X PUT
http://10.1.1.1:81/eiremote/v1/cameras/1_
Test/gomanual -d “”.

http://server-name-or-ip:81/eiremote/v1/cameras/ string - current state of camera

{cameraname}/state
http://server-name-or-ip:81/eiremote/v1/cameras/ string - current trigger mode of camera
{cameraname}/mode
http://server-name-or-ip:81/eiremote/v1/cameras/ string - list of available input tag names
{cameraname}/tags/input
http://server-name-or-ip:81/eiremote/v1/cameras/ string - list of available output tag names
{cameraname}/tags/output
http://server-name-or-ip:81/eiremote/v1/cameras/ string - datatype of given input tag
{cameraname}/tags/{tagname}/inputtype
http://server-name-or-ip:81/eiremote/v1/cameras/ string - datatype of given output tag
{cameraname}/tags/{tagname}/outputtype
http://server-name-or-ip:81/eiremote/v1/cameras/ object - current value of input tag
{cameraname}/tags/{tagname}/readinput
http://server-name-or-ip:81/eiremote/v1/cameras/ object - current value of output tag
{cameraname}/tags/{tagname}/readoutput

Image Web Server

An HTTP web server on port 80 provides HMI images and camera results.

URL Description
http://localhost/ Provides list of available cameras.
http://localhost/list Provides list of available cameras.
http://localhost/svg/{CameraName} Provides latest .svg image of given camera.
http://localhost/png/{CameraName} Provides latest .png image of given camera.
http://localhost/html/{CameraName} Provides latest html image of given camera.
http://localhost/{CameraName} Provides master html page with latest result of given camera.
http://localhost/detail/{CameraName} Provides detail html page with latest result of given camera.
http://localhost/master/{CameraName} Provides master html page with latest result of given camera.

VisionLine Interface
An Ethernet socket-based communication connects EtherInspect and a Trumpf laser controller. The Trumpf laser controller
initiates communication. EtherInspect listens on port 52000.

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Setup VisionLine Jobs

Add the XML settings in the Common.cfg file. You can configure the VisionLine setting per job number per camera. Add XML
in the <CommonConfiguration> section in the Common.cfg file.
Example:

XML Element Description

CameraName The CameraName should match the EtherInspect camera name to configure VisionLine on.
JobNumber Set the JobNumber for which you want to enable VisionLine.
Enabled Set true to enable VisionLine setting for particular JobNumber and Camera.
PFOXOffset10MicronUnits Set X Offset coordinate you want to set in PFO. IPSTART uses the coordinate.
PFOYOffset10MicronUnits Set Y Offset coordinate you want to set in PFO. IPSTART uses the coordinate.
PFOZOffset10MicronUnits Set Z Offset coordinate you want to set in PFO. IPSTART uses the coordinate.
PFOFocus10MicronUnits Set Focus Offset you want to set in PFO. IPSTART uses the coordinate.
HighResolutionRotatoin Set to true if you want to set the high-resolution rotation which the IPRDY response uses.

Command Description Request Response

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IPSTART Start a new image processing cycle. IPSTART, EtherInspect provides the
{ipstart_ coordinates to focus the
number}; optics (PFO).
{ipstart_number} String formats:
– set the ip start SETPFO {PFOX} {PFOY}
job number {PFOX} {PFOFocus}- Send
PFO offset to Trumpf system
l {PFOX} – PFO X
Offset 10 Micron Units
l {PFOY} – PFO Y
Offset 10 Micron Units
l {PFOZ} – PFO Z
Offset 10 Micron Units
l {PFOFocus} – PFO
Focus 10 Micron Units

IPBREAK{code} - When
EtherInspect is not ready
l {code} – 768
(“RUNNING_ERROR
= 0x0300”)
IPSTATEREQ Inquire state of the image processing. IPSTATEREQ; EtherInspect returns the
current status.
String format:
{IPSTATERESP} {code}

l {code} – 0 (“OK =
0x0000”)
l {code} – 2
(“IPSTATEREQ_
DURING_
CALCULATION =
0x0002”)
l {code} – 768
(“RUNNING_ERROR
= 0x0300”)
l {code} – 1024
(“FAULTY_
WORKPIECE =
0x0400”)

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PFORDY Programmable focusing optics (PFO) in position. PFORDY; EtherInspect returns the
values of XVar or TVar tags
Note: After EtherInspect receives the command, when image processing is
EtherInspect triggers the camera and responds
with IPRDY (and vars) or IPBREAK and an error complete.
code. String formats:
IPRDY <XVARS>
<XVAR01> 12.6523
</XVAR01> <XVAR02>
2.623 </XVAR02>
</XVARS> – Return XVAR
(Dynamic table) data back

IPRDY <TVARS>
<TVAR01> 12.6523
</TVAR01> <TVAR02>
2.623 </TVAR02>
</TVARS> – Return TVAR
(Static table) data back

IPBREAK {code} – On error

l {code} – 512
(“CALCULATION_
FAULT = 0x0200”)
l {code} – 1024
(“FAULTY_
WORKPIECE =
0x0400”)
l {code} – 768
(“RUNNING_ERROR
= 0x0300”)
l {code} – 3
(“PFORDY_
WITHOUT_IPSTART
= 0x0003”)

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