iPORT CL-U3 External Frame Grabbers

Simple to integrate USB3 Vision video interface for Camera Link Cameras

Pleora’s iPORT CL-U3 External Frame Grabbers help designers cut the cost, improve the usability, and reduce the complexity of vision systems for assembly manufacturing lines by converting existing cameras into USB3 Vision cameras.

In the diagram below, the image feed from a Camera Link Base or Medium line scan camera in a bin-picking robot is converted at the source into USB3 Vision-compliant video by the iPORT CL-U3.  The uncompressed video – along with power and control – is transmitted with low, consistent latency over a USB 3.0 cable directly to existing ports on a computer used for analysis and display. 

By eliminating the need for a Camera Link frame grabber in a PCIe slot, designers are free to choose from a broad selection of small form factor and low-power computing platforms, including laptops, embedded systems, and tablets. The thinner, lighter USB 3.0 cable is easier to route than bulky Camera Link cables, allowing faster setup and teardown of work cells for different products and short production runs.

Leveraging the onboard PLC, the iPORT CL-U3 uses input signals to accurately and deterministically control and trigger the camera and other vision systems elements, such as area sensors and lighting sources. The sophisticated real-time GPIO interfaces with all types of sensors, and employs differential signaling and high-threshold logic (HTL) techniques to minimize the effects of electrical noise.

At the computing platform, the iPORT CL-U3 is supported by Pleora’s feature-rich eBUS™ SDK application tool kit and drivers. This software suite allows designers to rapidly prototype and deploy production-ready software supporting video transmission over 10 GigE, GigE, USB 3.0, and wireless using the same application programming interface (API). 

In robotic applications employing Sony block cameras, Pleora’s iPORT SB-U3 allows manufacturers and system integrators to treat existing cameras as native USB3 Vision cameras.

Compatible Vision Standards