XIMEA GmbH has set a new benchmark for high-speed industrial cameras
with the introduction of the MQ series USB 3.0 SuperSpeed industrial
machine vision cameras based on Cypress's (Nasdaq: CY) EZ-USB®
FX3 USB 3.0 controller.
With its USB 3.0 SuperSpeed data interface, XIMEA's MQ series is capable
of generating 5 Gbps, or the equivalent of 400 megapixels per second
(Megapixels/s). Based on XIMEA's more than 20 years' experience building
ultra-compact cameras, the MQ series offers the latest, highest-grade
CMOS sensors with global shutter and improved quantum efficiency in the
visible and NIR spectral ranges, resolutions from VGA to 4 Megapixels,
and frame rates of up to 600 fps. The MQ series also offers
opto-isolated trigger input and lighting synchronization output,
on-board non-volatile memory for user settings and custom data, and an
HDR model with dynamic range of up to 100 dB. XIMEA's MQ series cameras
measure just 26.4 x 26.4 x 19.1 mm, weigh 26g, and consume between 1W to
1.8W, making the MQ series the smallest industrial USB 3.0 camera on the
market. And like all XIMEA's industrial cameras, each MQ series ships
with APIs for the most common image processing software, including
programs from Cognex, Matrox, National Instruments, MVTec, and many
more. Prices for the MQ series start at EUR189 for the 1.3-Megapixel
version.
USB 3.0 offers the same ease of use and flexibility that users have come
to expect from USB 2.0 devices, but at a much higher data rate of 5 Gbps
compared to the USB 2.0's 480 Mbps. USB 3.0 also offers better power
management (20 percent of USB 2.0). Cypress expects its new FX3
controller to enable USB 3.0 adoption across a variety of platforms,
just as the Cypress FX2 controller did for USB 2.0. Cypress's
well-established USB portfolio includes enCoRe™, EZ-USB® USB
controllers, West Bridge® peripheral controllers, and WirelessUSB™
2.4-GHz radios.
"We're very proud of our development time," says Max Larin, CEO and head
of product development and engineering at XIMEA. "Empowered with modern
design methodologies and tools, as well as working with Cypress's FX3
development team, XIMEA's designers developed the MQ family in only 100
days while still achieving record data throughput performance in an
unbelievably compact housing.