SICK has extended its next-generation Ruler3000 family to focus, what it describes as “the outstanding speed and precision of its top-flight 3D streaming cameras on the finest details of electronics, semiconductor and battery components”. With the addition of the Ruler3002, 3004 and 3010, integrators can capture high-quality, high-resolution 3D inspection and measurement data down to a height resolution of just 0.8 micrometers.
The SICK Ruler3000 has set a new global standard by combining the outstanding image quality of SICK’s Ranger3 streaming camera with the convenience of a built-in laser, pre-selected optics and factory-calibrated fields of view. Ease of integration was a priority of SICK’s development program, so that OEMs, system integrators and accomplished end users can fast track to outputting high-quality data at rapid production speeds.
Now, the SICK Ruler3002, 3004, 3010 cameras open up all the high performance of the Ruler3000 to guaranteed fields of view down to 26.6mm. The addition of a high-powered blue 3R laser enables the three cameras to achieve the rapid exposure times necessary to capture the minutest three-dimensional details. The three new cameras have been designed for integration into tight machine spaces with more compact dimensions than the rest of the Ruler3000 family. The Ruler3004, for example, measures 129.5 x 60.3 x 100 mm (L x W x H).
Conquering the Finest 3D Details of Electronics Components
The SICK Ruler3002, 3004 and 3010 cameras extract the true 3D shape of electronic assemblies, printed circuit boards, semiconductor components and batteries, regardless of their contrast or colour, to conquer the most challenging inspection, measurement and robot guidance tasks. They enable critical machine vision processes, such as completeness, correct component positioning or height and flatness measurements, e.g. during the assembly of smartphones or automotive electronic control units (ECUs).
The SICK Ruler3000 is said to achieve outstanding repeatability on light, dark, reflective and contrasting surfaces. By capturing 3D, reflectance and scattered light measurements in a single scan at speeds of up to 46KHz, differing material properties and wide contrast variations can be easily distinguished, even for tiny surface mount components. The cameras’ excellent light sensitivity and High Dynamic Range (HDR) also help optimize inspections of components with widely differing light remissions in a single scene, such as ball grid arrays.
The cameras are therefore ideal for inspecting the integrity of tiny Quad Flat Package (QFP) semiconductor leads, for example, or for verifying the correct shape and precise positioning of the glue beads during electronics assembly processes. When inspecting the shiny metal surfaces of battery housings, welding seams or heat-conducting paste, the Ruler3000 achieves very high resolutions and inspection speeds.
Surface+ Technology Reveals an Extra Dimension
With the launch of the three cameras, SICK has introduced a patent-pending Surface+ technology that provides an additional image dimension to reveal even the tiniest blemish or scratch on the smooth surfaces, on e.g. battery housings or shiny electronic components.
All Ruler3000 cameras are powered by SICK’s highly sensitive CMOS sensor and innovative ROCC (Rapid On-Chip Calculation) technology. They process up to 15.4 Gigapixels to enable up to 7000 full-frame 3D profiles per second. SICK also extended the Ruler3000 family further with the addition of a mid-range Ruler 3060, which has a field of view up to 740mm, targeted at applications in the automotive and consumer goods industries.
Machine integration is made simple by SICK’s user-friendly Stream Setup interface. The SICK GenIStream API facilitates programming for C# and C++ users. Full compatibility with industry standards, such as GigEvision and GenICam, provides plug and play access to third party software such as HALCON. In addition, developers have all the flexibility of SICK’s AppSpace software platform with its wide range of image processing tools and application examples, providing seamless scalability in both functionality and performance.
