PROFILE
Matrox designed was in the late 1970s before the PC came out, for Intel’s multi-bus board- level computer. ‘Hardly anyone had done digitised video because it was high bandwidth back then,’ he recalled. ‘We used an A/D converter that cost $600 a chip – in the 1970s – to digitise video on our frame grabber.’ Te price of those chips came down
rapidly, and once the PC was introduced in the early 1980s, Matrox was the first to build a frame grabber for the PC. ‘Exactly where along the road machine vision came in is a little fuzzy,’ Trottier said. ‘Tose frame grabbers were used for all kinds of things back then; there were all kinds of research projects going on and machine vision and image processing was one of them. ‘Back then image processing systems
were mini computers and cost a fortune,’ he continued. ‘We were one of those pioneers that brought the prices down and made it much more accessible.’ In the early 1990s, the company split
into three divisions: Matrox Graphics, delivering graphics solutions; Matrox Video, for the broadcast industry and digital video editing; and Matrox Imaging, focusing on component-level solutions for machine vision applications. Te unified thread underpinning the Matrox model remained the original notion of interfacing between microprocessors and video. In the early 1990s, Matrox Imaging decided
to develop an imaging software library, releasing the Matrox Imaging Library (MIL) in 1993. By this time the company had a lot of different frame grabbers, and the software to support the MVP-AT accelerator was getting hectic, Trottier said, so MIL was created as a uniform library that worked on all Matrox products. ‘Tat was a key thing, and was one of the reasons why we kept customers for such a long time,’ Trottier added. More recently, Matrox Imaging has
released Matrox Design Assistant software, which takes away the need for programming by using flowcharts to create a vision application. Both MIL and Design Assistant now have deep learning functionality, which can solve problems that couldn’t be solved with classic rule-based image processing tools. One of the newest cameras from Matrox Imaging is the Matrox AltiZ 3D profile sensor,
‘I’m a techno-geek myself; I started fooling around with electronics... as a kid. Tis is a continuation in a way’
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Matrox’s first product, Video RAM, in 1976
The Matrox Meteor-II PCI frame grabbers, launched in 1997
with a dual optical sensor design and data fusion capability. Te camera’s two sensors reduce occlusions found in more traditional laser profilers to give more complete 3D coverage of a scene. ‘Te combination of 2D and 3D, classic
image processing, deep learning, with robotics, allows you to make some extremely powerful solutions,’ Trottier said. ‘When you integrate those pieces together you have something that’s amazingly powerful.’ Trottier said that there are new areas
that have a big demand for machine vision, highlighting the electrification of automobiles as one example. He said: ‘Just the assembly of batteries and battery packs is a whole new sub-industry that’s emerging,’ and that Matrox Imaging is getting customers in that area. Lopez noted that the reduction in cost plus
the reduction in complexity for implementing machine vision systems has ‘opened up a lot of new opportunities in industries where they couldn’t afford to put vision in the past’. He said that standards, whether that’s video standards, but also communication protocols to communicate with other devices like robots or PLCs, is lowering the complexity of vision systems. Matrox is active on a number of standardisation committees, including Coaxpress and GigE Vision, to help define and develop those standards. Lopez added: ‘Tere’s going to be more competition going forward as the technology
becomes more accessible and easier to use. Tere are a lot of good ideas out there that merit attention. We don’t discount even the start-ups, which could come up with some interesting things moving forward.’ Trottier said that his advice for start-ups is
to work with companies to get exposed to real imaging needs. ‘Tat’s the catalyst,’ he said. ‘If you become aware of needs and aware of new technology, you’ll figure out new solutions.’ In 2019, Trottier acquired full ownership of
Matrox, declaring renewed commitment to customers, suppliers, business partners, and employees. ‘For 45 years to remain viable and
profitable we’ve endlessly had to reinvent ourselves,’ Trottier said. ‘Tat’s one of the things I love about this industry. I’m a techno- geek myself; I started fooling around with electronics, building crystal radios when I was a kid. Tis is a continuation in a way. Most of the engineers we have working for us have the same geeky love of technology, and we love staying on the leading edge, and figuring out what the newest technology is and how it can be applied to solve real-world problems. ‘In the area of machine vision there
has been no lack of innovation and new technology,’ he continued, ‘and we’re right on the forefront of some of those things, including things like 3D... and deep learning – we have customers in many projects applying that [deep learning], all of which is very exciting.’ O
DECEMBER 2021/JANUARY 2022 IMAGING AND MACHINE VISION EUROPE 11
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