Zebra Technologies has launched a fixed industrial scanner for AI applications and powerful 3D sensors with the capabilities that are wanted by businesses to make the ‘connected factory’ a reality.
Manufacturing businesses are always looking for ways to improve efficiency in their operations, and often look to technology to achieve this – and increasingly with an eye on utilising artificial intelligence (AI). To this end, Zebra Technologies Corporation has introduced the FS42 fixed industrial scanner and 3S Series 3D sensors as it continues to power secure technology innovation around AI and industrial automation for the manufacturing industry to help increase operational efficiency.
The FS42 fixed industrial scanner comes equipped with a neural processing unit for faster performance when running AI deep learning-based tools. The FS42 will also feature Zebra Aurora Focus™ for fast set-up and deployment.
Plug and play
Together with its new pixel application-specific integrated circuit, manufacturers and warehousing operators will benefit from faster decode times for select symbologies and gain significant performance enhancements for Zebra’s deep learning-based optical character recognition tool.
The high-resolution, high-speed 3S Series 3D sensors are plug-and-play ready with a power over ethernet connection. They are enhanced with Zebra’s Aurora Design Assistant™ or Aurora Vision Studio™ to speed up development and bring 3D vision applications online quicker. Kits with Zebra’s 4Sight Series EV7 vision controller will also be available for multi-camera machine vision and deep learning applications on the factory floor.
The 3S40 sensor supports new use cases with a large field of view for the inspection and dimensioning of larger, static objects, with a scanning area of up 1626 (width) x 1312 (depth) x 1280 (height) mm. The 3S80 sensor is ideal for accurate inspection and dimensioning of static or in motion objects, with a scanning area of up to 862x567x442mm for the 3S80-4M, while the 3S80-4L scan area reaches to 2495x1836x2256mm.
The 3S80 provides high-quality 3D data, colour information, and the ability to scan random movement in a picking application. The technology behind the 3S80 is patented, parallel-structured light technology that enables users to 3D scan whole areas of scenes with sub-millimetre resolution and accuracy, including those that are high-gloss, translucent or transparent.
Together, the 3S Series sensors can cover a range of use cases in manufacturing and logistics. These include electric vehicle battery surface inspection, automotive parts inspection, 3D measurement of angles in post assembly inspection, volume measurement, box dimensioning and object sizes in logistics operations. As part of a picking solution, the 3S Series can support logistics palletising and depalletising, bin picking, and robotic picking for automotive assembly lines.
Tools to optimise
“Customers and industry reports are clear on the challenges manufacturers and logistics operators face and the opportunities before them. Zebra provides the tools they need to optimise the frontline,” said Donato Montanari, general manager and vice president, Machine Vision, Zebra Technologies.
“Better 3D technology, deep learning and NPUs are powerful tools businesses need to support quality production and processing, and Zebra’s hardware and software will help deliver the outcomes they want.”