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

  • Point Grey: redefining value performance
    March 1, 2013
    Canadian manufacturer of high-performance digital cam­eras Point Grey has begun producing its new Blackfly cam­era, which the company says is suited to applications in open road tolling and machine vision. The first model, the BLFY-PGE-13E4, features a 1.3MP, 60fps, CMOS global shutter sensor available in both monochrome and colour, and consumes less than two watts of power in what the company claims is the world’s smallest and lightest GigE Pow­er over Ethernet (PoE) camera package. Future Blackfly models
  • Matrix Vision expands range
    June 9, 2014
    Matrix Vision’s mvBlueCougar-XD family of dual GigE vision cameras include a wide range of high-end CCD sensors from Sony with resolutions up to 12 megapixels and CMOS sensors from CMOSIS up to 4 megapixels; up to 12-bit ADC. It has an adjustable flange and is able to control a motorised lens or a video iris. In June, the range will be extended with a new version fitted with a 2.3 megapixels global shutter Sony CMOS sensors. Besides slow motion capturing, the camera features de-noising via frame avera
  • Matrix Vision expands range
    June 9, 2014
    Matrix Vision’s mvBlueCougar-XD family of dual GigE vision cameras include a wide range of high-end CCD sensors from Sony with resolutions up to 12 megapixels and CMOS sensors from CMOSIS up to 4 megapixels; up to 12-bit ADC. It has an adjustable flange and is able to control a motorised lens or a video iris. In June, the range will be extended with a new version fitted with a 2.3 megapixels global shutter Sony CMOS sensors. Besides slow motion capturing, the camera features de-noising via frame a
  • China joins EMVA G3 standardisation initiative
    June 9, 2015
    The China Machine Vision Union (CMVU) has become the fifth member of the G3 standardisation initiative of the European Machine Vision Association (EMVA), joining AIA-Advancing Vision + Imaging (AIA), EMVA, Japan Industrial Imaging Association (JIIA) and VDMA Machine Vision (VDMA MV). EMVA says cooperation on vision standards is critical to the expanded use of vision and imaging technologies throughout industry, cutting cut down on development time, investment costs and accelerating time-to-market. Joc