Mounting and callibration
Before using the camera, it has to be mounted above the machine or above a measuring table. It also needs to be calibrated.
The camera has a resolution of 2592 by 1944 pixels (4:3). The longer distance between the table and the camera, the larger area will be covered. Therefore, the accuracy will be better the closer the camera is to the table.
1. Mount the camera in the center of the area that you want to cover with the arrow pointing towards you.
If the X (long side) is the most important, set the camera on a height that is: Wanted X * 0.98 + maximal material thickness to cut.
If the Y (short side) is the most important, set the camera on a height that is: Wanted Y * 1.32 + maximal material thickness to cut.
2. You need a jig plate to be able to calibrate the camera. The size of the jig should be the size that you want to cover.
Put the plate on the machine and cut small holes or markings in the plate. The distance between all holes in X must be the same, a good rule is about 3-4 marks per meter. The distance between the holes in Y must be the same, but can be different from X.
Set the coordinate system in the lower left corner of the Jig (For example G54). From now on, you never need to change the origin (zero point of the machine) when you are using the camera function.
3. Connect the camera to the network by a standard Ethernet cable, and plug in the power connection.
If you prefer to use power from your machine (24V) you can do that since the camera can run on 9 to 36V. If you don’t use the standard power supply, be sure the center connection is positive (+).
4. Connect the camera with IGEMS using the “Config” command.
Press the ‘+’ (plus) button for searching the network for any camera. When it’s found, the camera will appear with an ID.
5. Insert raw image
Press the “Insert raw image” button to insert an uncropped and uncalibrated image from the camera. You will use this image as a reference to pick calibration points.
6. Calibrate
Before calibrating the camera, make sure all values corresponds with your actual settings in the machine.
Name
If you have several cameras installed, it’s a good idea to have more describing names than NONAME1 and NONAME2 and so on.
Lens table distance
This value should be the distance between the table and the lens on the camera. This distance is needed to calculate the correct scale when cutting material with different thickness.
Jig thickness
This is the material thickness of the jig plate.
Jig X length
This is the total length of the Jig in X.
Jig Y length
This is the total width of the Jig in Y.
X Points
The number of calibration points in X.
Y Points
The number of calibration points in Y.
Pick points
Finally press the button “Pick points”.
The dialog box will now disappear and you can use Zoom, Pan as normal. The command will ask you to click on 25 points (in this case) Click with as high accu- racy as possible on each calibration point.
The camera in now ready to use. Press the Apply button then Close
Using the camera
By clicking on the Insert command on the camera application you will insert a photo from the camera. The command will ask for machine and material. The material thickness is used for calculate the correct scale of the sheet. Then the command asks for a zero point.
NOTE!
In all IGEMS versions before R2015.4.489 the old image is not removed automatically when you insert a new image. This means that if you press this command several times without deleting the old image, your drawing may be heavy to handle.
Fixed zero point
Be sure that a fixed zero point in the controller is used in the CNC-file and that it corresponds to the lower left corner of the jig. (In many controllers the zero points are named as G54, G55, G56 and so on.)
When you insert the image at 0,0 is a good idea to change the Default zero corner (the origin of the toolpath) in the Strategy.
Using a separate camera table
The same equipment can also be used on a separate camera table. In this case do the calibration on this table. The jig during the calibration and the material has to be placed at the lower left corner at the L-square at all time.
The same L-square is mounted on the machine.
The zero point is located at the same position at the camera table.