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The solutions to defect pixels A key feature is the company’s patented thermal housing design, which incorporates a cooling fin and an integrated cooling pipe that can be used for active cooling. This approach can not only help to reduce the temperature of the image sensor, but also protect the optics from thermal expansion, to ensure high measurement accuracy. Says Wehner: “This is a significant difference from other cooling options, which are usually attached to the camera as an additional unit. We are better at temperature management, we benefit directly from the compact size, where other cooling solutions always require more installation space, and we save money on inventory or procurement because no additional equipment is needed.” As well as physical design


improvements, Baumer implements both static and dynamic defect pixel correction methods in their camera firmware. Static correction uses a predetermined list of defect pixel coordinates, offsetting them against neighbouring pixels. Dynamic correction adjusts for defects detected during image acquisition, ensuring stable and high-quality images. Wehner explains: “These two correction methods work together to provide the best possible image quality for our customers’ image processing needs.”


Baumer also prides itself on ensuring transparency by giving customers full


control over the defect pixel correction settings. Users can disable these functions if necessary and have access to all settings for documentation and further customisation. “For example,” explains Wehner, “for some customers it is very important to know which pixels are being corrected. They can read the vectors of the pixels from the list and save them, for example as documentation. The list can also be extended by the customers themselves, or they can store their own measurements of the defect pixels in the list. However, we assume that most customers use our corrections and are very satisfied with them.”


Applications across various industries Baumer’s SWIR cameras are already making a significant impact in industries such as semiconductor manufacturing, food inspection, and pharmaceuticals. Wehner reveals: “In semiconductor manufacture the focus is on ‘high precision’ and ‘best image quality’ at the best possible price/performance ratio. With SWIR technology, a silicon wafer becomes transparent and shows its inner structure. In the food industry, the opposite is sometimes true. Transparent water becomes opaque and forms a clear contrast to its surroundings. This makes it easy to detect fill levels in non-transparent bottles or to inspect differences in the moisture content of food. In the pharmaceutical sector, for example,


“A key issue is the temperature of the image sensor. Te warmer it gets, the more defect pixels appear.”


packaging can be made translucent to enable a completeness check of pills after the packaging has been sealed. It will be very exciting to see what other ideas our customers come up with in the future.” Speaking of the future, with technology


developing at pace, there is no laurel resting for Baumer. Wehner explains: “Higher resolutions will be in demand in the future. Sony already has sensors that enable 3 and 5 megapixel resolutions. We will integrate these resolutions into our cameras and continue to support our customers. We believe that there is a wide range of applications here that cannot be realised with ‘normal’ sensors. With the portfolio from 0.3 to 5 megapixels, the applications will expand considerably. Our new SWIR cameras can allow applications to be solved that in the past would certainly have failed due to the price of the available SWIR cameras. The new SWIR image quality and the higher resolutions at a very good price/performance ratio now allow a solution in a wider range of applications.”i


New White Paper Now online


How to avoid defect pixels in SWIR applications


Read this White Paper from Baumer to discover in greater detail how SWIR imaging goes beyond the visible spectrum, enabling machine vision to tackle challenging inspection tasks and unlock new possibilities for industrial automation.


imveurope.com//white-papers *registration required


AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2024 IMAGING AND MACHINE VISION EUROPE 23


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