Set Up Your Imaging System

Before you acquire, analyze, and process images, you must set up your imaging system. The manner in which you set up your system depends on your imaging environment and the type of analysis and processing you need to do. Your imaging system should produce images with high enough quality so that you can extract the information you need from the images.

Complete the following steps to set up your imaging system.

1. Determine the type of equipment you need given space constraints and the size of the object you need to inspect. Refer to Chapter 3, System Setup and Calibration, of the NI Vision Concepts Manual for more information.
   1. Make sure your camera sensor is large enough to satisfy your minimum resolution requirement.
   2. Make sure your lens has a depth of field high enough to keep all of your objects in focus regardless of their distance from the lens. Also, make sure your lens has a focal length that meets your needs.
   3. Make sure your lighting provides enough contrast between the object under inspection and the background for you to extract the information you need from the image.
2. Position your camera so that it is perpendicular to the object under inspection. If your camera acquires images of the object from an angle, perspective errors occur. Even though you can compensate for these errors with software, National Instruments recommends that you use a perpendicular inspection angle to obtain the most accurate results.
3. Select an image acquisition device that meets your needs. National Instruments offers several image acquisition devices, such as analog color and monochrome devices as well as digital devices. Visit ni.com/vision for more information about NI image acquisition devices.
4. Configure the driver software for your image acquisition device. If you have an NI image acquisition device, configure your NI-IMAQ or NI-IMAQdx driver software through Measurement& Automation Explorer (MAX). Open MAX by double-clicking the Measurement & Automation icon on your desktop. Refer to the Measurement & Automation Explorer Help for NI-IMAQ or the Measurement & Automation Explorer for NI-IMAQdx Help for more information.