PowerGrid and Hotbars now on In-Sight Vision Systems with the Explorer 6.1 Update

For several years now, our PowerGrid and Hotbars technology has set the standard for 1D and 2D code reading on our DataMan product line. We are excited to offer the same algorithms now within our lineup of In-Sight vision systems.

In-Sight vision systems have long been used to not only do factory automation inspections and measurements but to also do image-based barcode reading. In our continued effort to deliver the best-in-class products for our customers, we knew making the code reading capabilities on our vision systems the best they could be would require adding PowerGrid and Hotbars technology to them.

With the recent release of In-Sight Explorer 6.1, PowerGrid and Hotbars technology is now available on In-Sight for the first time. This makes our In-Sight vision systems capable of increasing read rates of 1D and 2D barcodes on par with our DataMan ID product line.

Let us backup for a second though for those unfamiliar with PowerGrid or Hotbars technology. With image-based technology there are really four steps to reading a barcode: take an image of the barcode, find the barcode in the image, generate a signal, and decode it.

What are Hotbars and PowerGrid?

Hotbars allows our products to read badly damaged 1D codes faster by focusing on the signal portion of this process.

The algorithm provides a good “signal” to the decoder. Hotbars provides a better input to the decoder so users can get a better output. A better output helps increase the speed of reading codes but also allows for reading damaged code, including extreme variations in contrast, blur, damage, voids, specularity, resolution, quiet zone violations, and perspective distortion.

PowerGrid technology dramatically increases read rates in 2D barcode-reading applications where a part’s geometry, poor lighting, occlusion, or print-registration errors make it difficult to capture an image of the entire code.

PowerGrid technology can locate and read codes even when they exhibit significant damage to or complete elimination of the finder pattern, clocking pattern, or quiet zone. The texture-based location algorithm that takes a unique, inside-out approach to reading 2D matrix and Direct Part Mark (DPM) codes.

Why this update matters for customers

Now that In-Sight vision systems have industry leading barcode reading capabilities, customers can now combine product inspections with code reading at the highest read-rates. This makes the investment in an In-Sight product more valuable, while delivering a greater ROI.

With improved barcode read rates and combined with In-Sight vision tools like OCR, customers can reduce costs, increase traceability throughout production, while promptly responding to quality assurance and recall problems. For example, even just increasing barcode and OCR read-rates throughout 0.5-1% will make a huge difference for companies like KIA Motors.

They read barcodes and OCR on every single part of a car transmission or a car engine, which can be in the hundreds of thousands of individual parts. Multiple that by thousands of car engines produced per day and this can have a massive improvement on yield rates and manual rework.

With the release of In-Sight 6.1, the best vision systems also just come equipped with the highest read-rates for 1D/2D barcodes.