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SPIE Photonics West 2011 review
SPIE Photonics West affirmed its place as the premier international photonics, optics & lasers conference and exhibition. Setting record numbers for attendees and exhibitors. About 19,390 people attended Photonics West this year -that's 6% higher than the previous high count, set just last year-. There were increases in both the technical program and day visitors, and comments from people leaving Moscone Center at the end of the day were 100% positive.
Enthusiasm was high among technical attendees and exhibitors at both the Biomedical Optics exhibition held on opening weekend and the 1,162-company Photonics West exhibition that ran midweek. Companies reported strong activity on the exhibition floor, with both returning and new customers visiting booths to do business.
Quest Innovations was present at the 'Holland pavilion' during the exhibition were we showed different Multispectral cameras from the Condor-1000 camera range and the first public release of the Architector Vision Suite imaging software. There were a lot of positive reactions: We would like to thank all visitors for stopping by and we are hoping to meet you again next year!
How to select a prism camera?
So you are aware of what multispectral technology has to offer, and specifically, prism cameras. But how do you select the camera that best fits your needs from the multitude of different cameras that are available?
In the latest article of Quest Innovations the properties of prism cameras are explored in order to help you make a checklist for selecting the best camera for your application.
Some properties are shared with more conventional camera systems, for example the choice between CMOS and CCD sensors. Others have additional implications for multispectral cameras, such as sensor size and lens selection. Another topic is the method of creating a prism split: there are panchromatic and chromatic splits, each with their own advantages and disadvantages. Finally, there may be custom optical filters placed in the camera. This –and more– is discussed in the article.
The complete article can be found in the knowledge base section of our website.
Quest Innovations obtains 3D printer
Quest Innovations has recently added a 3D printer for Rapid Prototyping to their engineering workshop. Mechanical prototypes can be developed overnight and new hardware can be tested immediately. Quest Innovations uses this 3D printer for Rapid Prototyping of camera housings and other mechanical parts.
With this technology we can not only develop cameras faster, but also speed up the development cycle for adjustments to cameras for customer projects. The result is a flexibility in mechanical design that would not be possible without it.
One of the first prototypes produced using this technology was the housing of our Condor-1000 MS1-RGB-FV Foveon™ based industrial machine vision camera (Please watch the upcoming issues of this newsletter for the final release date!). On our website a fast-motion movie clip is available that shows how a panel for this camera is printed.
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