Free update makes third deep learning method available for IDS NXT

In quality assurance, it is often necessary to reliably detect deviations from the norm. Industrial cameras have a key role in this, capturing images of products and analysing them for defects. If the error cases are not known in advance or are too diverse, however, rule-based image processing reaches its limits. By contrast, this challenge can be reliably solved with the AI method Anomaly Detection. The new and entirely free IDS NXT 3.0 software update from IDS Imaging Development Systems makes the method available to all users of the AI vision system with immediate effect.

The intelligent cameras are now able to detect anomalies independently and thereby optimise quality assurance processes. For this purpose, users train a neural network that is then executed on the programmable cameras. To achieve this, IDS offers the AI Vision Studio IDS NXT lighthouse, which is characterised by easy-to-use workflows and seamless integration into the IDS ecosystem. Customers can even use only ‘GOOD’ images for training. This means that relatively little training data is required compared to the other AI methods of object detection and classification. This simplifies the development of an AI vision application and is well-suited for evaluating the potential of AI-based image processing for projects in the company.

Another highlight of the release is the code reading function in the block-based editor. This enables the cameras to locate, identify and read out different types of code and the required parameters. Attention maps in IDS NXT lighthouse also provide more transparency in the training process. They illustrate which areas in the image have an impact on classification results. In this way, users can identify and eliminate training errors before a neural network is deployed in the cameras.

IDS NXT is a comprehensive AI-based vision system consisting of intelligent cameras plus a software environment that covers the entire process from the creation to the execution of AI vision applications. The software tools make AI-based vision usable for different target groups – even without prior knowledge of artificial intelligence or application programming. In addition, expert tools enable open-platform programming, making the cameras highly customisable and suitable for a wide range of applications.