Skip to main content

New USB3 vision standard available for download

The Automated Imaging Association (AIA), the vision and imaging industry’s trade association, has released the new USB3 vision camera interface standard and it is now available for free download on the AIA website. This easy-to-use standard is based on the prevalent USB 3.0 consumer hardware already in use. The AIA says vision component manufacturers have embraced the standard and are expected to widely adopt it; many components are already selling today. Based on the USB 3.0 interface (SuperSpeed USB), USB
February 22, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
The 6856 Automated Imaging Association (AIA), the vision and imaging industry’s trade association, has released the new USB3 vision camera interface standard and it is now available for free download on the AIA website. This easy-to-use standard is based on the prevalent USB 3.0 consumer hardware already in use. The AIA says vision component manufacturers have embraced the standard and are expected to widely adopt it; many components are already selling today.

Based on the USB 3.0 interface (SuperSpeed USB), USB3 vision was developed specifically for the global vision and imaging market and takes advantage of the USB 3.0 ports that will soon be standard on most PCs. It offers bandwidth of 350 MB/s which satisfies a very broad spectrum of vision and imaging application needs. USB3 Vision, like GigE Vision, does not require a frame grabber. The standard covers four basic operations: device discovery; device control; event handling; and streaming data. A device can optionally support device functionality with USB 2.0. Both power and data are transmitted over the same cable with possible cable lengths of five meters over passive cables and 10 meters or more using active cables. The standard defines the mechanics of screw locks on the micro-USB 3.0 connector. The standard will give users plug and play capability using components from different manufacturers.

The USB3 Vision standard is hosted by the AIA; as part of AIA’s commitment to help increase the understanding and use of vision standards, they make the standard specification document available for free download on their website www.visiononline.org in the vision standards section. Licences are required for commercial use of the standard, but those who are integrating USB3 vision products may want to have the standard document as a reference.

Many industry leading manufacturers have already licenced the standard and have or will have vision products for sale. They include: 518 Allied Vision Technologies, Alysium Tech, 7094 Basler, Baumer, Icron Technologies, 7178 IDS Imaging Development Systems, 78 JAI, Matrix, Matrox, National Instruments, 7179 Pleora Technologies, 541 Point Grey Research, 822 Stemmer Imaging, 5392 Toshiba Teli, and Ximea.

Related Content

  • January 31, 2013
    New USB3 vision standard released
    The USB3 Vision specification, the result of many months of collaboration between some of the machine vision industry's leading technology companies, has been successfully ratified by the Automated Imaging Association (AIA) and members of the USB3 Vision Technical Committee. The aim of the standard is to enable interoperability between USB 3.0 imaging components such as cameras, accessories and software. Like the popular GigE Vision standard, USB3 Vision will provide a framework for transmitting high-speed
  • March 15, 2012
    Point Grey hosts first AIA Vision standards meeting
    Point Grey, a leader in advanced digital imaging products, will be hosting the AIA Winter 2012 Vision standards meeting in Vancouver, Canada from 13 – 17 February.
  • October 28, 2016
    Vision 2016 highlights the latest trends and technology in machine vision
    The Vision Show is the perfect venue to catch up with the latest moves, trends and launches in the traffic vision sector, and ITS International editor Colin Sowman highlights a few to start with…
  • June 9, 2014
    Point Grey and Matrox now interoperable
    High-performance digital camera supplier Point Grey has introduced plug-and-play interoperability between its Grasshopper3 and Flea3 USB3 Vision cameras and Matrox Imaging Library (MIL), a comprehensive software tool for developing machine vision, image analysis and medical imaging software applications. The two companies have been working together since summer 2013 on the USB3 Vision implementation. Matrox Imaging already provides support for Point Grey’s GigE Vision and FireWire products and with the r