Matrox Design Assistant 5 - Major Release of Flowchart-Based Vision Software Simplifies the User Experience

Matrox Design Assistant 5 vision software is the latest evolution of Matrox flowchart-based integrated development environment (IDE). This major update, created with user experience and productivity in mind, will enable system integrators and machine builders to set up vision systems with less effort and greater confidence. 

Matrox Design Assistant 5 features a more image-centric approach to project configuration, whereby measurements are set up directly on the image itself, rather than through configuration panes. The update further streamlines flowchart creation by allowing the logic for specific events and actions to be placed in separate sub-flowcharts, decluttering the main flowchart. A newly added ready-to-go communication structure simplifies the interface between the vision system and a programmable logic/automation controller. 

DA 5 adds support for persistent recipes, which makes it possible to create a single flowchart for inspecting similar part types that can be modified or added to by the vision system designer and an operator. A project specific operator interface can now be accessed from any HTML5-based web browser, enabling greater access, not just from PCs, but also from tablets or smart phones as well. 

This new version of Matrox Design Assistant is designed with the user in mind. The simplified workflow will not only increase productivity, it will also make vision altogether more accessible for inspection and guidance in electronics assembly, food and beverage production, medical device manufacturing, logistics, automotive manufacturing, consumer products production, pharmaceutical production or semiconductor fabrication. 

Matrox DA 5 also integrates Matrox’s SureDotOCR technology for reading challenging dot-matrix text as produced in practice by industrial inkjet printers. This new flowchart step handles distorted and rotated text, on uneven backgrounds and under non-uniform illumination.  Development using Matrox Design Assistant 5 is done on a PC running 64-bit Windows. Resulting projects can be deployed on a Matrox Iris GTR smart camera, Matrox 4Sight GPm vision controller, or any PC with a GigE Vision or USB3 Vision camera.