MVTEC MERLIC 5.3.0标准智能图像处理软件完整版和运行版扩展 非破解版 Linux Tools for the runtime version

石鑫华视觉

MVTEC MERLIC 5.3.0标准智能图像处理软件完整版和运行版扩展 非破解版 Linux Tools for the runtime version

本帖版本为5.3.0正式版。包含多国语言包。发布日期2023年4月。

MERLIC为一款标准的智能软件，不需要太多编程知识，只需要拖动需要的功能模块，组成一定的工作流程，配置一下参数，完成配方配置，即可应用于机器视觉领域。同时MERLIC优化并行处理功能，可匹配多相机的工位应用。再加上其基于Halcon的底层，图像检测功能是非常优秀的。

MERLIC 5.3 的最新功能
MERLIC 5.3 从逻辑上延续了自 MERLIC 5 以来所采用的方法。它的目的是解决高要求的机器视觉应用，同时满足快速和容易实施。这个新版本为客户提供了我们最新的深度学习功能，不需要任何编程知识。

有哪些最新发展？
MERLIC 5.3 进一步推动了深度学习技术，同时精简了界面，使其更加易于使用。

MERLIC前端的训练功能
在新版本5.3中，现在能够在运行期间使用MERLIC前端的训练功能。比如，新的匹配模型或读取代码参数可以被训练。这意味着终端客户也可以直接在MERLIC前端的生产线上对其他产品进行训练。这显著提高了灵活性和应用的可能性。

用于三菱 MELSEC PLC 的插件
在MERLIC 5.3中，可以通过MELSEC协议与广泛使用的三菱PLC直接通信。通过MERLIC中新开发的插件能够实现。这个插件支持三菱的L系列和Q系列。因此，MERLIC为使用三菱PLC的客户提供了重要的附加价值。

新工具基于深度学习的物体检测
用于物体检测的深度学习技术现在也可以在MERLIC中使用。"寻找物体 "工具可以定位训练有素的物体类别，并通过周围的矩形（边界框）来识别它们。相互接触或部分重叠的物体也会被分开，这样就可以对物体进行计数。使用免费的MVTec深度学习工具，无需编程知识就可以进行标记和训练。将经过训练的网络加载到 MERLIC 中，只需单击一下即可使用。

工具分组使工作流程更清晰
MERLIC无需编程知识，即可解决复杂的机器视觉应用。可视化的工具流支持这一点。为了在复杂的应用中也能保持概览，现在可以在工具流中把几个工具组合成一个虚拟工具。

简明的启动对话框，便于访问功能和机器视觉应用程序
易用性是MERLIC的独特亮点之一。为了进一步加强这种易用性，一个带有缩略图的开始对话框被整合到 MERLIC Creator 中。这使用户可以了解他们最近打开的MVApps的概况。所有标准例子都清楚地显示出来。对于新用户十分的友好，为创建自己的应用程序提供了导向。此外，还可以通过快速链接获取有用的说明材料和文档

文件名: merlic-5.3.0-tools_all.tar.gz
文件大小: 1483346 字节 (1.41 MB)
修改日期: 2023-04-19 21:25
MD5: 5193e9ce215b7076927a215eb0be5784
SHA1: 3b25716144021268918a57282e11ce20de94aac6
SHA256: 9c6b6ef6afdca11097b5278bb28281ceacd6c7b17f603e1b3fc705dda6e61707
CRC32: 5c304c90

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发行说明 MERLIC 5.3

Here you can read the release notes for MVTec MERLIC 5.3, as released in April 2023.

CONTENTS

• Supported Operating Systems
• Major New Features
• Compatibility
• Image Source Manager
• Process Integration
• Communicator
• Interfaces for Process Integration
• MERLIC Creator
• MERLIC Designer
• MERLIC Frontend
• Tools
• Examples
• Documentation
• Installation
• Licensing
• Tool Development
• Miscellaneous
• Release Notes for Windows Systems Only
• Release Notes Linux Systems Only
• Known Issues
  

SUPPORTED OPERATING SYSTEMSWINDOWS

MERLIC 5.3.0 is available for Windows 10 (64-bit). During the installation of MERLIC via the MVTec Software Manager (SOM), no environment variable will be set.

Please refer to the "Readme" in the MERLIC manual for more information about the system requirements.

LINUX

MERLIC provides a test version for evaluating MERLIC RTE (Runtime Environment) for Linux on PC (Linux x86_64) and for Arm-based platforms (AArch64). This means that both embedded devices based on the widely used Arm architecture and Linux alternatives to the typical Windows operating system can now be tested for image processing with MERLIC. This is a first step towards making MERLIC available on additional platforms in the future.

Developing the MVApp is still done on a Windows system with the MERLIC Creator. The application can then be tested on the "new" systems using MERLIC RTE for Arm-based platforms and Linux. Cameras can be set up remotely with the help of MERLIC RTE Setup. The test version requires a specific license. Please contact MVTec to get more information about how to obtain this license.

MVTec appreciates any feedback on the test version. The feedback can be submitted on the MERLIC feedback website which can be accessed from the MERLIC Creator either via the feedback icon on the top right or via the "Help" menu.

MAJOR NEW FEATURESTRAINING FUNCTIONALITIES IN THE MERLIC FRONTEND

With the new version 5.3 it is now possible to use training functionalities in the MERLIC Frontend even during runtime. For example, new matching models or code reading parameters can be trained. This increases the user-friendliness since the intermediate step via the MERLIC Creator for training is no longer necessary.

PLUG-IN FOR MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC MELSEC PLCS

With MERLIC 5.3 it is possible to communicate directly with the widespread Mitsubishi Electric PLC via the MC/SLMP protocol. This is made possible by a newly developed plug-in included in MERLIC. This plug-in supports the Mitsubishi Electric iQR, iQF, L- and Q-series. MERLIC thus offers significant added value for customers working with Mitsubishi Electric PLCs.

NEW TOOL FOR DEEP LEARNING-BASED OBJECT RECOGNITION

The deep learning technology Object Detection is now also available in MERLIC. The "Find Objects" tool locates trained object classes and identifies them with a surrounding rectangle (bounding box). Touching or partially overlapping objects are also separated, which allows counting of objects. Labeling and training are also possible without programming knowledge using the free MVTec Deep Learning Tool. The trained network can then be loaded into MERLIC and used with a single click.

TOOL GROUPING FOR CLEARER WORKFLOWS

With MERLIC, complex machine vision applications can be solved even without programming knowledge. To ensure this, the visual Tool Flow helps. To maintain an overview even with complex applications, it is now possible to group several tools into a virtual tool inside the Tool Flow.

CONCISE STARTUP DIALOG FOR EASY ACCESS TO FUNCTIONS AND MACHINE VISION APPLICATIONS

Usability is one of MERLIC's unique selling points. To further strengthen this ease-of-use approach, an image-centric start dialog was integrated into the MERLIC Creator. This allows users to get an overview of their most recently opened MVApps. All standard examples are also clearly displayed. Especially for new users, these offer a guide to reliably create their own applications. In addition, helpful introductory material as well as the documentation can be easily accessed via quick links.

COMPATIBILITY

Since the last MERLIC version we have been working hard to improve MERLIC in every way. This has, however, resulted in a few of incompatibilities. We apologize for the inconvenience.

• Tools
  
  • MERLIC Vision Apps containing the previous concept tool "Find Objects" are no longer compatible because the tool has been adjusted and is now provided as a standard MERLIC tool in the category "Deep Learning - AI". More information.
    
  
  

• Tool Development
  
  • The procedure "MeTest_destroy_tool_handle" is not supported anymore because it has been removed. Therefore, the corresponding lines must be removed in any HDevelop scripts for MERLIC custom tools. More information.
    
  
  

• Miscellaneous
  
  • Due to the new underlying HALCON version, the behavior of existing custom tools might have changed since the last MERLIC version. Therefore, it is recommended to check the functionality of existing custom tools in this MERLIC version in addition to other required updates of the custom tools due to the revised interface for the tool development.  More information.
    
  
  

IMAGE SOURCE MANAGER

• New Features
  
  • In the "Image Sources" tab of the MERLIC RTE Setup, the IP and MAC addresses of connected GigEVision camera devices are now displayed in the correct format in the section of the camera parameters.
  • The image preview in the "Image Sources" tab of the MERLIC RTE Setup now supports zooming of camera images. It is now possible to zoom in and out of the image that has been acquired for the configuration of a camera device. For this, a new zooming toolbar is now available if a camera device is configured. It allows the user to zoom in, zoom out, and reset the zoom via mouse click. With each change of the zooming parameters, a new image is acquired. It is also possible to use the mouse wheel and keyboard shortcuts for zooming. In addition, the user can also specify the area to be zoomed by drawing a rectangle with the right mouse button over the desired area in the image. This allows the user to inspect certain image parts in more detail, for example, to set the focus of the camera.
  • MERLIC now provides a new program that can be used to collect hardware information on the system. If the user runs into problems and needs to contact the local distributor for help, the user can use this program to collect information and provide it to the support team. It can be started via the Windows start menu "MVTec MERLIC 5.3 > MERLIC 5.3 Collect Support Information". The respective executable file is called "merlic_collect_support_information.exe". The program collects information on the available cameras, image source configurations (ISM configurations), log files, and .ini files on the system. This information helps the support team to find a solution for the problem more quickly.
    
  
  

• Enhancements
  
  • The log messages of the Image Source Manager have been improved. If a camera device was successfully opened, the respective message in the log file now contains more detailed information about the used device, for example, the name of the model and the firmware version. In addition, the message that was logged if an image source configuration was missing has been revised to be more clear.
    

• Fixed Problems
  
  • If a camera was configured in the "Image Sources" tab of the MERLIC RTE Setup and one of the camera parameters was set to a value that is not supported by the camera device, an error message occurred. However, the error message stated that the camera parameter is set to the value that is actually not supported. This problem has been fixed. The error message has been revised and now shows the correct value of the camera parameter.
  • When configuring camera parameters via the "EasyParams" in the "Image Sources" tab of the MERLIC RTE Setup, the state of the EasyParam "Trigger Delay" was sometimes not updated correctly after changing other EasyParams with internal dependencies. If "Trigger Method" was set to use hardware trigger and "Trigger Activation" was set to "LevelHigh", the EasyParam "Trigger Delay" was still enabled for configuration although it should be disabled. If the user then adjusted the value for the trigger delay, an error occurred. This problem has been fixed. The EasyParam "Trigger Delay" is now disabled if it is not applicable because of the configuration of other EasyParams.
  • If the device name of a camera had changed after successfully installing a new driver for a USB3Vision or GigEVision2 camera, an error was shown with the information that the installation was successful and the device name had changed. This could be confusing because an error implies that the installation of the driver was unsuccessful. However, the error referred to the changed device name. This problem has been fixed. Now, a warning message is shown if the device name has changed after successfully installing a driver instead of an error.
  • If a new GigEVision camera was added to the active configuration in the "Image Sources" tab of the MERLIC RTE Setup, the IP address of the camera was displayed in the "Info" section only after clicking "Refresh". This problem has been fixed. The IP address is now displayed automatically after a new camera has been added as image source.
  • In some cases, if a new USB3Vision camera device was connected and the installation of the respective driver was canceled, a wrong message about a successful installation appeared. This problem has been fixed.
  • If the screen resolution had been changed after acquiring an image in the "Image Sources" tab of the MERLIC RTE Setup, the image display was scrambled or showed a completely gray image. This problem has been fixed.
  • If an image source was renamed in the "Image Sources" tab of the MERLIC RTE Setup after an image had been acquired, no further image was acquired. This problem has been fixed.
  • Error messages that occurred while selecting a camera device in the "Image Sources" tab of the MERLIC RTE Setup did not disappear after an image source from a file was selected instead. This problem has been fixed.
  • If an error occurred after a camera parameter within the "All Parameters" tab had been changed in the "Image Sources" of the MERLIC RTE Setup, the values of other camera parameters were not refreshed although a refresh might have solved the error. This problem has been fixed.
    
  
  

PROCESS INTEGRATION

• New Features
  
  • MERLIC has been extended by new configuration options to define fixed ports for the remote configuration of image sources and Communicator plug-ins. It is now possible to define fixed ports for the configuration services when using the MERLIC RTE Setup on a remote system. The following .ini properties have been added:
    
    • ImageSourceConfigurationPorts: This property defines the ports for the configuration services of the Image Source Manager (ISM).
    • PluginConfigurationPorts: This property defines the ports for the configuration services of Communicator plug-ins.
      
    In addition, MERLIC also provides new command line options that enable the user to define the ports via the command line:
    • --image_source_config_ports: This command line option is available for "merlic_creator.exe" and "merlic_rte.exe". It corresponds to the .ini property "ImageSourceConfigurationPorts".
    • --plugin_config_ports: This command line option is available for "merlic_communicator.exe". It corresponds to the .ini property "PluginConfigurationPorts".
      
  
  

• Enhancements
  
  • The layout of some GUI elements in the MERLIC RTE Setup has been revised to be more clear on feedback regarding the configuration and to provide better control of editing parameter values. For example, previously the modified flag was very small and hard to detect and some parameter values could only be set manually. Now, the MERLIC RTE Setup provides a clear visualization of modified parameters and new sliders to adjust values more comfortable.
    
  
  

• Fixed Problems
  
  • When entering a non-zero decimal digit in one of the plug-in user parameters of the "Communication" tab of the MERLIC RTE Setup, trailing zeroes were immediately added to the digit until a given precision was defined. This problem has been fixed. The plug-in user parameters now wait until the user confirms their entry before adding the trailing zeroes.
  • When using MERLIC RTE and starting single jobs with iteration parameters, all resulting outputs were erroneously marked as outdated and MERLIC warned about result parameters not being determined in the current iteration. This problem has been fixed. Now, only results of tools that were not executed in the recent iteration, for example, in inactive branches of "Branch on condition" tools, are marked as outdated.
  • If the MERLIC RTE Setup was closed while configuration services were searched, for instance, when launching MERLIC Creator, MERLIC RTE, or the MERLIC Communicator using the buttons in the disconnected "Image Sources" or "Communication" tabs, the MERLIC RTE Setup window was closed but its process still remained. Therefore, the user had to end the process of the MERLIC RTE Setup manually in order to enable a new connection to a new instance of the MERLIC RTE Setup. This problem has been fixed.
  • If a plug-in parameter in the "Communication" tab of the MERLIC RTE Setup provided a drop-down menu with a lot of parameter values, it could be cumbersome to select the desired value because no scrollbar was provided for the drop-down menu. This problem has been fixed.
    
  
  
  

COMMUNICATOR

• New Features
  
  • The MERLIC RTE Setup now allows the use of sliders for the configuration of Communicator plug-ins. Thus, it is now possible to use the eMVPluginParameterPresentationProperty_PreferredWidget property to define that a plug-in parameter should be represented by a slider. The respective configuration option in the "Communication" tab of the MERLIC RTE Setup will then show the desired slider for the respective parameter. When defining a slider for a plug-in parameter, it is necessary that a range constraint is imposed on the parameter. If additionally a step size is provided, or if the parameter is an integer and thus has an implicit step size of 1, the slider will snap to the allowed values. In the MERLIC RTE Setup, ticks are displayed beneath the slider to indicate the allowed positions unless they would be so frequent as to cause visual noise.
    The new sliders are now also available for the configuration of the standard Communicator plug-ins that are provided by MERLIC.
    
  
  

• Fixed Problems
  
  • If MVApp results were added to an MVApp which was referenced by an unprepared recipe and if that recipe was later prepared followed by a single or continuous job, the OPC UA server crashed. This problem has been fixed.
    
  
  

INTERFACES FOR PROCESS INTEGRATION

• New Features
  
  • MERLIC has been extended by the new Communicator plug-in "MELSEC Communication". It enables the user to communicate directly with Mitsubishi Electric's programmable controllers of the MELSEC-L Series and MELSEC-Q Series and allows the user to control and monitor the vision system in the process integration mode. For the communication between the MELSEC Communication plug-in and the Mitsubishi Electric MELSEC PLC, the MELSEC communication (MC) protocol is used.
    The plug-in offers a rich set of configuration options in the "Communication" tab of the MERLIC RTE Setup, for example, plug-in parameters to set the connection settings to the PLC, to select the number of MVApp results that shall be available to be queried by the PLC, as well as the number of iteration parameters that shall be available for the PLC to overwrite the parameter values defined in the recipe. After configuring the plug-in, the user may export the labels of the selected MVApp parameters and results and import the exported file into the PLC program. The imported labels can then be accessed by both the plug-in and the PLC to transmit commands, results, and further information.
  • MERLIC has been extended by the new Communicator plug-in "save-results". It can be used to automatically save data contained in MVApp results to a configurable directory on disk. The data will be stored in a file in .csv format. In contrast to the example plug-in "save-images", this plug-in saves only non-image data and the source code of the plug-in is not available. The plug-in offers some configuration options in the "Communication" tab of the MERLIC RTE Setup, for example, to define the output directory and the file name.
    
  
  

• Fixed Problems
  
  • If MERLIC RTE was running while changing MVApp results of an MVApp that is referenced in a recipe, the resulting mismatch in the result interface could cause a crash of the provided standard plug-ins "OPC UA", "MQTT", and "save-images" because the results that were generated by the MVApp that is actually prepared for MERLIC RTE differed from the results that were expected by the Communicator plug-in. This problem has been fixed. Now, the plug-ins check for inconsistencies between the recipe interface and the results and alert the user about any discrepancies in a log message.
  • When image results have been enabled in the configuration of the OPC UA server plug-in, a memory leak occurred. This problem has been fixed.
    
  
  

MERLIC CREATOR

• New Features
  
  • MERLIC now enables the user to combine multiple tools of a MERLIC Vision App in a group. A group can be used to combine tools that perform similar processing tasks, or to provide a better overview in the MVApp. The tools to be grouped can be selected and grouped in the Tool Flow panel within the MERLIC Creator. In the Tool Flow panel, a group is visualized with a graphical representation of stacked tools including a specific icon for tool groups. In the Tool Workspace, a group is visualized similar to a regular MERLIC tool. It shows connections to previous and subsequent tools and a graphic window if available, and also enables some configuration options depending on the tools within the group. The group also provides a Quick Info with general information on how to work with groups.
  • MERLIC now provides a new start dialog for the MERLIC Creator. It provides quick access to introductory material and documentation and enables the user a quick start to the processing of new and existing MERLIC Vision Apps (MVApps). The start dialog shows an overview of the provided example MVApps and recently opened MVApps, and when selecting an MVApp, you will also see further information on the MVApp such as the location or the date of the last modification.
    
  
  

• Enhancements
  
  • The visualization of images when hovering over the respective tool results has been improved. Previously, a black image was shown when hovering over the connector of an empty image result. Now, the currently displayed image, that is, the default image, will still be visible when hovering the mouse over an empty image result.
  • The context-sensitive help for the MERLIC Creator and MERLIC Designer has been improved. Previously, context-sensitive help via the shortcut F1 was only provided for some basic MERLIC components and dialogs. Now, context-sensitive help is provided for many more GUI elements in focus, that is, for the last clicked area, tool, or widget.
    

• Improved Usability
  
  • The display of renamed MERLIC tools in the Tool Flow panel has been improved. Previously, the original name of the tool was often redacted although there was enough space to show the complete name. This made it difficult to recognize which tool is represented, especially if there are multiple tools with similar names. Now, the original name will be fully displayed if there is enough space.
    

• Fixed Problems
  
  • The menu entry "Help > View Help" in the MERLIC Creator opened the context-sensitive help instead of the start page of the MERLIC manual. This problem has been fixed. Now, the context-sensitive help is only opened when pressing F1 and the menu entry opens the start page of the MERLIC manual.
  • Sometimes, the visualization of trigger connections in the Tool Flow panel was broken and showed a gap. This problem has been fixed.
  • Sometimes, when copying MERLIC tools in the Tool Flow panel and pasting the tools to a position where there was not enough space for the tools, more rows than necessary were added to the Tool Flow. This problem has been fixed.
  • If the context menu of a tool parameter was opened to connect a result of a previous tool and "Evaluate Expression" was one of the previous tools, MERLIC erroneously provided the option "" for the previous "Evaluate expression" tool. However, this option had no effect because it is only used for tool results of tools prior to "Evaluate Expression" to enable adding a connection to a new dynamic parameter of "Evaluate Expression". This problem has been fixed. Now, this option is only shown if it is applicable.
  • When using easyTouch in a MERLIC tool and running the MVApp via the keyboard shortcuts F5 or F6 without moving the mouse pointer, the easyTouch overlay was not updated after the execution. This problem has been fixed.
  • Some of the buttons in the menu bar of the MERLIC Creator were not positioned correctly with too much spacing on the left. This problem has been fixed.
  • If a warning dialog was shown in the Tool Flow panel when moving a tool because any connections would be lost, it was still possible to delete the respective tool in the Tool Workspace. If the warning was then confirmed, other tools were moved instead. This problem has been fixed. Now, it is not possible anymore to make any changes in other parts of the MERLIC Creator while a warning dialog is shown in the Tool Flow panel.
  • If a MERLIC Vision App contained unsaved changes and the "File" menu was used to open the current MERLIC Vision App again, the dialog to save or discard the changes appeared. If the user selected to discard the changes, the MERLIC Vision App was opened again without the changes but the window title bar of the MERLIC Creator still showed the modification flag. This problem has been fixed.
  • When changing one or more ROIs in the graphics window, sometimes an outdated state of the ROIs was displayed in the graphics window, which therefore seemed to respond with a time delay. This problem has been fixed. Now, it is only possible to draw a new ROI if the latest ROI is has been done calculating and is available.
  • In some cases, the connections between tools in the Tool Flow panel were drawn too close to the tools. This problem has been fixed.
  • In some cases, trigger connections were not correctly drawn in the Tool Flow panel. In addition, connections were sometimes unnecessarily overlapped which made it harder to follow the connections. These problems have been fixed.
  • MERLIC sometimes crashed when renaming a MERLIC tool that was previously connected to a "Label" widget. The crash occurred only if the "Label" widget was deleted while connected to the renamed tool. This problem has been fixed.
  • When MERLIC could not be started because of an erroneous .ini file, the respective error message was always shown in English even if a different language was set. This problem has been fixed.
  • The visualization of connections to tools that cannot be executed was sometimes not correct. The arrowheads of these connections were still displayed in blue instead of red, and in some cases, the connections were not displayed in red at all. This problem has been fixed.
    
  
  

MERLIC DESIGNER

• New Features
  
  • MERLIC now supports training functionality in the MERLIC Frontend. For this, a "Training" widget has been added to the MERLIC Designer. It can be connected to the desired MERLIC tools whose training functionality should be provided in the Frontend. The "Training" widget offers the same training functionality as the connected MERLIC tool in the MERLIC Creator. The user may activate the training mode, select new training images, use regions of interest (ROIs) or easyTouch, if provided, to select training objects, and perform the training with the new settings.
    
  
  

• Fixed Problems
  
  • After the window size of the MERLIC Designer was changed or the panels in the MERLIC Designer were moved to a different position, the layout changes were lost after the MERLIC Creator was restarted. This problem has been fixed.
  • The scrollbar in the properties panel of the MERLIC Designer was sometimes hard to recognize because the color of the scrollbar matched the background color. This problem has been fixed.
  • When copying Designer widgets from one view to another, they were moved by 10 pixels. This problem has been fixed. Copied widgets are now inserted in the other view at the same position. However, if the widgets are copied to the same view, they are still shifted by 10 pixels to avoid a complete overlap.
  • The grid in the workspace of the MERLIC Designer was not visible on the right and bottom borders of the workspace. This problem has been fixed.
  • The "Undo" and "Redo" functionalities did not work as expected in the MERLIC Designer. After adding new tab views to the workspace, using the "Undo" functionality to undo the creation of the last tab view had no effect. In addition, when using the "Redo" functionality afterward, an extra tab view with the same name was added although the name of a tab view must be unique. This problem has been fixed.
  • If the "Execution Control" widget was set to show only the "Run Continuous" button, the respective allowed minimum width could only be set via drag-and-drop of the widget in the workspace but not via the widget properties. Instead, the minimum width of the widget for the case where both execution buttons are displayed was expected when entering the width manually in the properties. This problem has been fixed.
  • When rearranging multiple tabs in the MERLIC Designer and then using the "Undo" functionality on a widget, a different tab than the one that contains the modified widget became active. This problem has been fixed.
  • In the workspace properties of the MERLIC Designer, the path of the selected background image was visible behind the actual input field and the respective buttons instead of within the input field. This problem has been fixed.
    
  
  
  

MERLIC FRONTEND

• New Features
  
  • The MERLIC Frontend now supports new keyboard shortcuts which can be used to control the execution of the MVApp (F5 and F6) and to add new training images in the new "Training" widget (F3).
    
  
  

• Enhancements
  
  • The MERLIC Frontend now offers more configuration options for customization. MERLIC now provides the new MERLIC .ini file property "ShowMVTecMerlicInFrontendWindow". It enables to hide the company and product name of MVTec MERLIC in the window title and in the status message that is shown while the Frontend is being loaded.
    
  
  

• Fixed Problems
  
  • If an ROI toolbar was provided at the "Image Display" widget in the MERLIC Frontend and the drop-down menu of the available ROIs was opened, scrolling the list of ROIs in the drop-down had the effect that the image was zoomed instead of scrolling through the ROI list in the drop-down menu. This problem has been fixed.
  • If the size of the workspace exceeded the initial size of the MERLIC Frontend window, the workspace area was cropped to the Frontend window size and could not be resized. This problem has been fixed.
  • When starting the MERIC Frontend via the MERLIC Creator or Designer, for example, by using the provided keyboard shortcuts or menu entries, or when starting the MERLIC Frontend via the command line by using the "--frontend" option for the "merlic_creator" or "merlic_rte" applications, no error message or information was provided to the user in case the Frontend could not be launched. This problem has been fixed. If the Frontend fails to start via the user interface, an error message will now be displayed. If the command line is used, an error message will be logged when the Frontend could not be launched and the startup of the "merlic_creator" or "merlic_rte" application, respectively, will be inhibited.
  • Entering parameter values of type "long" in the "Spin Box" and "Label" widgets in the MERLIC Frontend led to unexpected behavior if commas were used as a thousand separator. This problem has been fixed. Now, entering "long" values in the "Spin Box" and "Label" widgets is only allowed without commas or dots to ensure a correct conversion.
  • When using the "Spin Box" widget or the "Radio Button Group" widget in the MERLIC Frontend and the modification in the Frontend was deactivated, for example, because the MERLIC Vision App was executed in the MERLIC RTE mode, the "Spin Box" and "Radio Button Group" widgets were not displayed grayed out. Therefore, it seemed as if the widgets were still active for modification. This problem has been fixed.
    

TOOLS

• New Features
  
  • The tool category "Preprocessing > ROI Creation" has been renamed to "Preprocessing > ROI" in accordance to the new MERLIC tools "Convert Region to ROI" and "Convert ROI to Region" which are now provided in this category. This way, the name of the tool category fits to the new tool as well as to the ROI creation tools that were already available in previous MERLIC versions.
  • MERLIC has been extended by the new tool "Convert Region to ROI" in the tool category "Preprocessing > ROI". It enables the user to convert region outputs of previous tools to regions of interest (ROIs). Each region will be converted into a separate ROI. This might be useful if a MERLIC tool is used that accepts only ROIs as input. The new tool can then be used in a preprocessing step to convert the results into the required semantic type.
  • MERLIC has been extended by the new tool "Convert ROI to Region" in the tool category "Preprocessing > ROI". It enables the user to convert regions of interest (ROIs), i.e., circles, paraxial rectangles, points, rectangles or segments, to regions. The ROIs can either be connected from a previous tool or be drawn using the ROI buttons in the Tool Board. This might be useful if a MERLIC tool is used that accepts only regions as input. The new tool can then be used in a preprocessing step to convert the results into the required semantic type.
  • The tool "Evaluate Expression" now allows changing the order of expressions. This is especially useful if you are using multiple expressions and want to change their order. You can simply drag and drop the expressions to the new positions instead of removing and adding the respective expressions again as previously required.
  • MERLIC has been extended by the new MERLIC tool "Find Objects" in the tool category "Deep Learning - AI". Previously, this tool was provided as a concept tool in an early stage of development. The tool has been revised and improved and is now provided as a standard MERLIC tool, ready for productive use. It can be used to locate objects within an image and classify them based on a deep learning model that has been trained for object detection in MVTec's Deep Learning Tool or in MVTec HALCON. For the final integration as a standard MERLIC tool, the names of the tool parameters and tool results have been revised to be more clear. In addition, the Quick Info of the tool has been revised and a tool reference has been added to the MERLIC manual. Note that this change affects the compatibility. Read more.
  • The "Image Source" tool has been extended by several new tool results:
    
    • "Used Source": This result returns information on the image source that was used for the image acquisition.
    • "Acquisition Time": This result returns the time it took to acquire an image from the selected image source. It is provided as an additional result and is also displayed in the status bar of the MERLIC Creator.
    • "Total Acquisition Time": This result returns the time it took to acquire an image from all image sources in the currently active configuration. It is provided as an additional result.
      
  • The following tools of the tool category "File Access" have been extended:
    
    • Read from File
    • Read Region from File
    • Write to File
    • Write Region to File
      
    All of these tools have been extended by the new result "Current File Name" which returns the name and path of the file that has been saved in the last iteration. In addition, the tools "Write to File" and "Write Region to File" have been extended by the new parameter "Create Directories". It allows the user to define whether the directory specified in the parameter "File Name" should be created if it doesn't exist.

• Enhancements
  
  • The concept tool "Segment Image Pixel Precise" has been revised. The tool results "Segmentation Image" and "Preprocessed Image" were obsolete and have been removed. In addition, the description in the Quick Info has been improved to be more clear.
    
  
  

• Improved Usability
  
  • The MERLIC tools of the category "File Access" have been revised. Relative paths that have been defined for the tool parameter "File Name" are now handled relative to the location of the saved MERLIC Vision App and if an empty "File Name" is defined, the default value of the parameter is restored.
    

• Fixed Problems
  
  • Some tool parameter names of the tool "Convert Disparity to Height Image" were incorrectly translated into Chinese and Japanese. These parameters refer to specific camera parameters and should therefore not be translated. This problem has been fixed.
  • When copying and pasting an instance of a trained "Detect Anomalies" tool, the trained model was not copied. Therefore, the copied tool needed to be manually trained again. This problem has been fixed.
  • In some cases, the value defined as an expression of an "Evaluate Expression" tool was not applied anymore if an invalid expression was entered and then corrected after switching to the "Evaluate Expression" tool from another one. This problem has been fixed.
  • If the "Image Source" tool was used but no image source was connected, the displayed warning was outdated and not very helpful. This problem has been fixed.
  • The tool "Read from File" needed to be executed twice to start reading from the specified file but it also read from the file when a parameter was changed. In addition, changing a parameter of the tool "Write to File" was handled as an error that was instantly cleared. These problems have been fixed.
  • After changing the write mode for an already connected file in the tool "Write to File", the file was not automatically reconnected again. Instead, the user had to manually reconnect to the file before starting writing with the new write mode. This problem has been fixed.
  • When entering an integer that was larger than the numeric maximum of signed 64-bit or lower than the numeric minimum, for example, a value greater than 9223372036854775807 or less than -9223372036854775808, the number was automatically set to the nearest numeric limit without any user notification. This problem has been fixed. The value will not be adjusted automatically anymore and an error will occur instead.
  • In some MERLIC tools, the usage of the parameter sliders for tool parameters that define the minimum and maximum values of a feature has been improved. In general, the parameter that defines the maximum value of a feature cannot be set lower than the current minimum value of that feature. Previously, the value range of the sliders did not adjust according to the value of the other corresponding tool parameter. For example, if the parameter for the minimum value was increased, the corresponding parameter for the maximum value could not be set lower than the new minimum value but the range of the slider still allowed the user to move the handle to lower values than allowed even if they could not be set. Now, the value range of the sliders is adjusted automatically to the allowed value range to make it easier to set the respective value.
  • The translations of some tool messages were missing. Thus, they were always displayed in English even if a different language was set. This problem has been fixed.
  • If an incompatible model was used in the concept tool "Segment Image Pixel-Precise", an internal error message of HDevEngine was shown which did not provide any helpful information. This problem has been fixed.
  • If multiple codes were detected in a MERLIC tool for reading data codes, the decoded data were not returned in the same order as the extracted contours which made it hard to assign the decoded data to the respective contours. This problem has been fixed.
  • If an ROI of an unsupported type was connected to a MERLIC tool, often no warning or error occurred. This problem has been fixed. Now, all MERLIC tools show a warning or an error if an ROI is connected that is not supported.
    
  
  

EXAMPLES

• New Features
  
  • MERLIC has been extended by the new MVApp example "count_frozen_dough_with_training.mvapp" which demonstrates the use of the new "Training" widget and the training mode in the MERLIC Frontend.
    
  
  

• Enhancements
  
  • The MERLIC Vision App (MVApp) examples provided with the MERLIC installation have been improved. Previously, they were not write-protected and could therefore be overwritten. Now, all MVApp examples are delivered write-protected to ensure that they cannot be overwritten.
    

DOCUMENTATION

• New Features
  
  • The MERLIC manual has been extended by a new topic "What's New in MERLIC 5.3.0". It gives an overview of the new features and enhancements in this MERLIC version. This topic will also be provided in future MERLIC versions to give an overview of the respective new features.
    
  
  

• Enhancements
  
  • The documentation of the Image Source Manager (ISM) in the MERLIC manual has been improved. Previously, the process of configuring image sources was documented on a single page. Now, this page has been divided into several subpages for better clarity.
  • The language settings when switching from the Tool Development manual and the Communicator Reference documentation which are only provided in English to one of the translated manuals have been revised. Previously, the settings were inconsistent. When opening the MERLIC manual from the Tool Development manual, the help was opened in the language that was set as default in the browser. However, when opening the manual from the Communicator Reference, the help was opened in English. Now, the MERLIC manual and the MERLIC Communicator manual will be opened in the default language of the browser if the manual is available in the default language and if they are opened from the Tool Development manual or the Communicator Reference.
  • The documentation of the example Communicator plug-in "save-images" in the MERLIC Communicator manual has been improved. It now provides more detailed information on how to use the plug-in.
  • The documentation of the tool "Delay Execution" has been improved. Now, the tool reference and the quick info also provide information about the delay of the execution of a single tool.
  • The MERLIC manual has been extended by a new "Getting Started" section. It provides an overview to help the user get started with MERLIC. It also gives practical information such as an introduction to the user interface, an overview of the available keyboard shortcuts, and an introduction to MERLIC’s various components.
    
  
  

• Improved Usability
  
  • The usability of the MERLIC tool documentation has been improved. The quick info of the MERLIC tools has been extended to provide a hyperlink to the respective tool reference in the MERLIC manual. Thus, the documentation for a tool can be accessed more quickly and easier.
    
  
  

• Fixed Problems
  
  • Some tables in the MERLIC manual and the MERLIC Communicator manual were not scaled correctly for smaller browser widths. This problem has been fixed.
  • In the quick info of the tools "Branch on Condition" and "Evaluate Expression", the example expressions were not completely visible if the quick info area was too narrow. This problem has been fixed.
  • In the MERLIC manual and MERLIC Communicator manual, some translations were missing. This problem has been fixed.
  • Some videos in the MERLIC manual were a bit blurry. This problem has been fixed.
  • If the user login dialog of the MERLIC Frontend was open and the shortcut F1 was pressed to open the respective context-sensitive help, the MERLIC manual was opened with the overview topic of the MERLIC Frontend instead of the description of the user login. This problem has been fixed.
  • The topic "Working with the Training Mode" in the MERLIC manual was not up-to-date. Some of the newer MERLIC tools were missing in the list of MERLIC tools with training mode. In addition, the list of example applications in the reference documentation of some Designer widgets was not up-to-date. This problem has been fixed.
  • The tool reference of the tool "Delay Execution" contained wrong information. It stated that the maximum value for the parameter "Milliseconds" is 1000 ms. However, it is possible to set a delay of more than 1000 ms. This problem has been fixed.
  • The documentation of the interface procedure "Me_set_parameter_disabled" was missing in the Tool Development Manual. This problem has been fixed.
  • The Communicator Reference documentation contained outdated information and did not mention clearly where example plug-ins are installed by default. This problem has been fixed.
  • The documentation of the OPC UA server plug-in in the MERLIC Communicator manual stated in the "Requirements" section that for the full feature set also the features of the recommended features set are required. However, there is no recommended features set. This problem has been fixed. It now states correctly that the features of the extended feature set are required for the full feature set.
  • In the Communicator Reference documentation, the instructions for linking Boost libraries to a plug-in were outdated. This problem has been fixed.
    
  
  

INSTALLATION

• Enhancements
  
  • MERLIC now supports to start further MERLIC applications directly from the MVTec Software Manager (SOM). Previously, only the MERLIC Creator could be started from the MVTec Software Manager. Now, also the MERLIC RTE Setup and MERLIC Frontend can be started via new launch buttons. In addition, it is also possible to start MERLIC RTE, MERLIC Communicator, and the MERLIC Frontend together. This allows the user to immediately open the applications after the installation.
    

• Fixed Problems
  
  • MERLIC could not be uninstalled via the MVTec Software Manager (SOM) if the installation directory contained non-ASCII characters. This problem has been fixed.
    
  
  
  

LICENSING

• New Features
  
  • The license restrictions for the MERLIC RTE Setup have changed. Previously, a license dongle was required to use the MERLIC RTE Setup. Now, a license is installed automatically for the MERLIC RTE Setup with each MERLIC installation. This allows the use of the MERLIC RTE Setup without any licensing dongle, for example, on remote systems.
  • The license restrictions for image acquisition have changed. The license of the MERLIC package determines how many image acquisition tools are allowed for use per MERLIC Vision App. Previously, this restriction applied to all tools of the category "Acquisition". Now, the tool "Acquire Image from File" is excluded from the license restriction. Thus, it may be used in the MERLIC Vision App as often as desired without any license restriction.
    
  
  
  

TOOL DEVELOPMENT

• Enhancements
  
  • The configuration options for custom tools have been improved. Previously, the setting for the location of custom tools and the setting to enable remote debugging in HDevelop needed to the defined in the .ini file of MERLIC. Now, these settings can also be defined in the preferences dialog of the MERLIC Creator. The configuration options are provided in a new tab "Custom Tools". It enables the user to comfortably define the path settings for custom tools and additional procedures via the user interface. In addition, it also allows the activation of the HDevelop remote debugging mode. In contrast to previous versions, it is now also possible to change the port for the remote debugging mode.
    The new "Custom Tools" tab in the MERLIC preferences will only be available if the MERLIC license supports the use of custom tools, that is, if the licensing package "X-Large" or the licensing add-on "Extension Tools" is activated. If the used license does not support custom tools, the new tab will not be visible in the preferences.
  • The interface procedure "Me_set_drawing_color" has been updated. Previously, the procedure could be used for iconic output parameters and for ROI parameters although there are also other interface procedures to define the color of ROIs. To avoid confusion about which procedure should be used, the procedure "Me_set_drawing_color" can now only be used for iconic output parameters but not for ROI parameters. To change the color of ROI parameters, the procedures "Me_set_active_roi_color" or "Me_set_inactive_roi_color" can be used instead.
  • With the new HALCON version, the interface procedure "MeTest_destroy_tool_handle" is not necessary anymore because handles are now cleared automatically in HALCON. Therefore, this interface procedure has been removed. Note that this change affects the compatibility. Read more.
    
  
  

• Fixed Problems
  
  • If a non-ASCII path was configured multiple times for the parameter "ToolPath" in the [General] section of the .ini file, MERLIC did not start. This problem has been fixed. Now, MERLIC logs information containing the multiple configured paths and starts normally.
    
  
  
  

MISCELLANEOUS

• To profit from the improvements of the new HALCON version, the HALCON libraries used by MERLIC have been upgraded to the HALCON 22.11 Progress version.  Note that this change affects the compatibility. Read more.
• A MERLIC Vision App could be executed at most 25 times per minute. This problem has been fixed.
• The behavior of MERLIC during a crash has changed. Due to the new CodeMeter version that is used for MERLIC's licensing, stack traces are no longer provided if MERLIC crashes. Therefore, the respective log file and crash data are no longer available after a crash.
• The logging mechanism of MERLIC has been improved. The log files of the MERLIC Creator, MERLIC RTE, and the MERLIC RTE Setup now provide information on the used CPU and the available cores. This information helps the support team to find suitable solutions more quickly if the user runs into problems and needs to contact the local distributor or MVTec for help.
  

RELEASE NOTES FOR WINDOWS SYSTEMS ONLY

In this section, you can find the release notes that apply only for Windows systems.

• If an update or uninstallation of MERLIC was started via the MVTec Software Manager (SOM) while there were still MERLIC processes that were currently running, the update or uninstallation was stopped which could led to an incomplete MERLIC installation. This problem has been fixed. Now, a warning dialog occurs if any MERLIC processes are still running and the user has the possibility to end the running MERLIC processes and to continue the update or uninstallation, respectively.
• When using MERLIC on Windows 11 and opening a menu in one of the MERLIC components, for example, in the MERLIC Creator, the selected menu entry was highlighted badly and with a dark background color which resulted in a low contrast. This made it hard to read the name of the menu entry. This problem has been fixed.
• While installing MERLIC via the MVTec Software Manager (SOM), some file rights were not set correctly. This could prevent users in a multi-user environment from using the MERLIC RTE Setup. This problem has been fixed.
• If the software rendering mode was activated, MERLIC crashed when a warning or error message in a MERLIC tool was opened. This problem has been fixed.
  

RELEASE NOTES LINUX SYSTEMS ONLY

In this section, you can find the release notes that apply only for Linux systems.

• On Linux systems, the parameter "Start Time" of the tool "Get Execution Info" could not handle time values of time format "relative" that were connected from another instance of the same tool. This problem has been fixed.
  

KNOWN ISSUES

The following issue is already known and in development process. It will be fixed for upcoming releases.

• In frequent cases, when using TensorRT™ accelerated processing units in MERLIC tools with deep learning technology, MERLIC crashes if the required memory for the deep learning model exceeds the available memory on the GPU.
• When an instance of MERLIC Creator or MERLIC RTE of version 5.0 is remotely configured using a MERLIC RTE Setup 5.1 or newer, removing an image source from a configuration will cause the Creator or RTE application to crash. We recommend to upgrade Creator/RTE to the current version or, in lieu of that, to use RTE Setup 5.0 to configure Creator/RTE 5.0.
• When an instance of MERLIC Creator or MERLIC RTE of version 5.2 (or newer) is remotely configured using a MERLIC RTE Setup 5.1, it is not possible to rename image sources or configurations, despite the fact that this feature has been added in MERLIC 5.1. We recommend upgrading the MERLIC RTE Setup to version 5.2.
  

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