NI视觉开发包2014新功能What's New in the NI Vision Development Module 2014

石鑫华视觉

Overview概述

The NI Vision Development Module 2014 includes many new features and performance enhancements. This document provides an overview of the new algorithm and usability improvements and describes how these features can benefit you when you are implementing your vision system.

1. FPGA Image Processing IP  支持FPGA

Many image processing algorithms can take advantage of the parallel nature FPGAs and offload the process-intensive portions of a vision application, freeing the processor to handle other tasks. The Vision Development Module 2014 includes over 50 FPGA image processing functions as well as functions to efficiently transfer images between the processor and FPGA. This enables the FPGA to be used as a coprocessor in which the processed image is sent back to the host or for the image processing to be tightly coupled with other processing and I/O on the FPGA creating a high-performance solution for applications such as visual servo control, laser tracking, and high-speed sorting.

Figure 1: Accelerate vision by offloading image processing to the FPGA.

The NI LabVIEW FPGA Module is a natural extension of the LabVIEW graphical programming environment. You can perform complex FPGA programming without using low-level languages such as VHDL. If you are familiar with LabVIEW, transitioning to LabVIEW FPGA presents only a small learning curve, which can drastically reduce development time in applications that require FPGA programming, eliminating the need for custom hardware designs. Instead of programming in HDL, you create applications on the LabVIEW block diagram, and LabVIEW FPGA synthesizes the graphical code and deploys it to FPGA hardware.

Figure 2: LabVIEW FPGA image processing IP reduces development time.

Users can quickly prototype and develop FPGA vision applications using the NI Vision Assistant, which is included with the Vision Development Module. The Vision Assistant is a configuration-based prototyping tool that empowers developers to iterate on image processing algorithms and see how changes in parameters affect the image. Once the algorithm engineering is complete, the Vision Assistant can automatically generate a complete NI LabVIEW project including host processor VI, FPGA VI, and supporting elements such as FPGA Bayer decoding and code to transfer images between the processor and FPGA as well as the corresponding FIFOs. The FPGA code generated by the Vision Assistant is also optimized for parallel execution and users can modify the image processing algorithms using LabVIEW FPGA IP Builder, which is included with the NI LabVIEW FPGA Module.

Figure 3: The Vision Assistant reduces prototyping and development for CPU and FPGA-based image processing.

Figure 4: The Vision Assistant can generate a complete LabVIEW project with code that is ready to compile and run.

In addition to speeding up development and code generation, the Vision Assistant gives an estimate of the resource utilization of an FPGA given a specified target, such as a CompactRIO model. The information includes percentage usage of slices, LUTs, DSPs, and Block RAM not only for the entire image processing code but for each individual algorithm to give insight into which step requires the most resources.

Figure 5: The Vision Assistant provides FPGA resource utilization estimates.

2. 1D Barcode Improvements-一维条码改进-支持多个条码同时读取且不需要固定ROI区域

The NI Vision Development Module 2014 also introduces a new algorithm for locating and decoding of multiple 1D barcodes within an image. The algorithm robustly locates multiple barcodes under various lighting conditions and complex backgrounds.

Figure 6: Vision Development Module algorithm locating multiple barcodes.

3. Summary and Next Steps-总结与下一个步骤

The rise in the adoption of vision to increase quality, efficiency, and flexibility has created more demand on the performance of vision software. The new features in the NI Vision Development Module bring more performance and capabilities to engineers to help meet those demands in a large variety of industries and application areas.