VisionPro

Quick Reference

2022 August 03
Revision: 9.8.0.SR1.1
 Legal Notices

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 VisionPro Hardware Requirements

VisionPro Hardware Requirements

Your computer must meet minimum requirements.

Minimum Computer Requirements

l IBM or compatible Pentium computer with MMX/SSE2 instruction set
l One open PCI slot if you are using a PCI-bus Cognex frame grabber or a GigE camera adapter
l One open PCI Express slot if you are using a PCI Express-bus frame grabber, Cognex Communication Card or
GigE Vision network adapter

l One open USB port for the Cognex Security Key

l One USB3 port if you are using GenTL acquisition
l 4 GB memory, 2 GB free disk space prior to installation
l 1024 x 768 display with a display setting of 96 DPI
l PCI, PCI Express (recommended), or AGP video adapter
l Microsoft .NET Framework version 4.7.2

Microsoft Visual Studio

VisionPro supports development and deploying using the following compilers that target the
.NET Framework version 4.7.2:

l Microsoft Visual Studio 2015 (v. 14.0), Update 3

l Microsoft Visual Studio 2017 (v. 15.0)

Operating Systems
VisionPro supports development and deployment on single or multiprocessor machines using native languages
(English, Japanese, German, Korean, and Simplified Chinese) on a variety of Windows 64-bit operating systems.
VisionPro supports 2D vision tools and features Windows 10 and Windows 10 IoT Enterprise.
VisionPro supports various 3D sensors and 3D vision tools based on your 64-bit operating system:

3D Hardware/Feature Required 64-Bit OS

VisionPro with any of the following sensor series: Windows 10 Pro and Windows 10 IoT
Enterprise
l DS1000
l DS900
l 3D-L4000
VisionPro with the DSMax series sensors Windows 10 Pro
3D-A5000 sensor with A5000 Viewer and 3D HandEye Field Windows 10 Pro
Calibrator
CAD Import Tool Windows 10 Pro
Cognex 3DExpress Windows 10 Pro

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 Installing VisionPro

Installing VisionPro
1. Uninstall any existing VisionPro software.
Use the Add or Remove Programs feature of the Windows Control Panel to remove any of the following
programs if they are present:
Cognex VisionPro
Cognex Drivers
Cognex Japanese Documentation
Cognex Software Licensing Center

Restart your computer if prompted.

2. Turn off the computer and install the vision hardware necessary for your vision application.
For non-Cognex hardware, follow the manufacturer’s installation instructions.
3. Attach the necessary cameras, I/O devices and Cognex Security Key and turn on the computer.
Microsoft might display the Found New Hardware Wizard. Select Cancel.
4. Install the VisionPro software from the Windows Desktop:
Launch the setup.exe application from the installation media.
l You must have Administrator privileges to install VisionPro.
l If your computer does not already have Microsoft Visual Studio Redistributables installed, they will
automatically be installed.
l If your computer requires an update to the Windows Installer, it will automatically be updated. Depending
on how your system is configured, you might see a message about this update taking place.

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 Installing VisionPro

5. (Optional) By default the installer launches a VisionPro Edit Control extension to populate the tool palette in
Visual Studio with the latest VisionPro edit controls. The extension detects which versions of Visual Studio you
have installed and will populate the tool palette for all installed versions by default:

Be aware the extension does not support automated population of VisionPro edit controls with Visual Studio
Express.
6. (Optional) Install the Asian language versions of the documentation.
By default the VisionPro installation utility will not install Asian language versions of VisionPro documentation.

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 Installing VisionPro

7. Install the VisionPro Hardware Drivers

The Cognex Drivers utility will launch once the VisionPro software is installed:

The Cognex Drivers utility will install the GigE Vision drivers and all the frame grabber drivers. You can, as an
option, select Custom in the Setup Type dialog and pick the specific drivers you want installed. The drivers are
Authenticode signed with a Cognex certificate.
The installer might display a Windows Security warning for the Gige Vision driver from Pleora Technologies:

You must click Install to use the correct GigE Vision drivers for best performance.

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 Installing VisionPro

If you do not install any drivers during the initial software installation and want to install one or more drivers later,
re-insert the installation media and double-click on setup.exe in the \drivers directory to launch the Cognex
Drivers utility.
Reboot the computer if prompted. If you install additional image acquisition hardware later, use the Windows
Control Panel to select the Cognex Drivers software for repair and modifications.

Configure the Gigabit Ethernet Network

If you installed one or more GigE Vision network adapters, you must use the GigE Vision Configuration Tool to assign an
IP address to each adapter port and each camera connected to it. Each port of a network adapter must have its own IP
address on its own subnet. Each camera must have its own IP address on the same subnet as its network adapter,
otherwise the camera and the adapter will not be able to communicate.

See the GigE Vision Cameras User’s Guide, available from the Start menu, for more information about configuring your
computer to use GigE Vision cameras.

Configure Your Cognex Communication Card

If you installed a Cognex Communication Card for use in network communication for your production environment,
launch the Cognex Comm Card Configurator by choosing Start->Cognex->VisionPro->Utilities->Cognex Comm
Card Configurator and provide the Ethernet settings the hardware will need.
See your VisionPro documentation for more information on how to use a Cognex Communication Card.

Working with Third-Party Imaging Devices

Manufacturers of cameras, frame grabbers, and other devices that generate digital images can make these images
available to the VisionPro Imaging Device interface. Refer to the manufacturer's web site for specific support information.

Configure Your Camera Link Cameras

If your cameras use the Camera Link communication protocol, use the Cognex Camera Link Serial Comm Utility to
program the Camera Link cameras over the Camera Link serial port.
Launch the CogCLSerial utility by choosing Start->Cognex->VisionPro->Utilities->CameraLink->CogCLSerial.

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 VisionPro Overview

VisionPro Overview
VisionPro provides an interactive development environment that you can use to assemble tools, configure acquisition
and I/O, and deploy robust, high-performance applications with full-featured operator interfaces. VisionPro also provides
a full-featured toolkit that you can program in .NET using C#, VB.NET or managed C++.
VisionPro consists of a set of development tools:

l QuickBuild is an interactive application builder that lets you define an application containing multiple Jobs. For
each Job, you define and configure the image source (a Cognex frame grabber, GigE Vision camera, imaging
device for a 3rd party acquisition adapter, or an image file), then add the vision tools and the results analysis
logic. You can run the Jobs interactively, using either manual, triggered, or automatic operation.

l Within QuickBuild, the Communications Explorer provides an interface to Cognex I/O hardware. You can link
specific data items and results from an application to output lines or a TCP/IP connection to network hardware.
You can configure system-level output such as a job-ready signal or a system heartbeat, and input signals to
control when your vision application executes.
l Using the Application Wizard you can generate a complete operator interface that encapsulates the application
you created using QuickBuild and the Communications Explorer. The Wizard-generated application includes an
executable Windows program, fully commented source code, as well as the job and I/O configuration data.
Depending on the options you specify, the application can also provide full configuration control over the job
internals at run time.

The following figure provides an overview of a basic VisionPro development process:

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 Advanced Development Capabilities

Advanced Development Capabilities

In addition to using the Application Wizard to package your VisionPro application for deployment, you can also write a
custom application around the configured Jobs, or you can create your entire application using C#, managed C++ or
VB.NET directly with the underlying VisionPro components. The following are the three most common advanced
development paths towards a customized, deployable application:

l Interactive development with QuickBuild plus a customized Application Wizard-Generated Operator Interface
Because the Application Wizard generates a VB.NET or C# application, including source code, you can use
Microsoft Visual Studio to view and modify the generated operator interface. This makes it easy to customize the
look and feel of the application by adding controls and display values from other system components.

l Interactive Development plus a Custom-Written Operator Interface

The VisionPro .NET programming interface includes functions to load and operate a saved QuickBuild
application (in fact, the Wizard-generated application uses these functions). Instead of using the Wizard-
generated code, you can simply write your own Visual Studio application to load and control the saved
QuickBuild application.
l Custom application using the VisionPro programming interface
The .NET programming interface lets you create entire applications using C#, managed C++ or VB.NET,
providing low-level control of image acquisition, and analysis.

The VisionPro online documentation provides an example of creating a deployable VB.NET application by loading a
QuickBuild application and adding a custom graphical user interface.

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 Getting Started

Getting Started
Your VisionPro installation includes several features to help you develop your vision application.

Develop Your Application with QuickBuild

QuickBuild is a rich interactive development environment that lets you create and manage multiple Jobs, each of which
contains multiple tools and has the ability to run automatically whenever an image is available:

Configure the Communications Explorer

Once your job is working properly, use the Communications Explorer to configure the signals carried by your discrete I/O
hardware and establish any TCP/IP links you need to exchange data with other network hardware:

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 Getting Started

Use the Application Wizard to Build a Deployable System

After saving your complete QuickBuild application, including all Jobs and communications information, launch the
VisionPro Application Wizard and create a deployable operator interface:

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 Sample Jobs and Programs

Sample Jobs and Programs

VisionPro installs a large set of Visual Studio programming samples for a variety of tools. Each sample solves a specific
vision task, and were created using C# or VB.NET.
The installation utility installs a set of programming samples, which are located by default in \Program
Files\VisionPro\Samples\Programming.
Likewise, QuickBuild includes a set of sample Jobs that demonstrate a variety of vision tasks, and can be accessed
through the Navigation pane.

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 Reference

Reference
VisionPro offers a set of standard user interfaces for most functionality

QuickBuild Window

Job Editor

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 Reference

Tool Edit Control

Communications Explorer

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 Reference

Generated Operator Interface

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 For More Information

For More Information

In QuickBuild
Click the question mark in any window to display a pop-up menu of options for displaying information related to the
current vision tool or QuickBuild component.

From Microsoft Windows

From the Start menu, select Cognex->VisionPro->Documentation for a list of available titles.

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 VisionPro Utilities

VisionPro Utilities
VisionPro includes the following utilities that are available through the Start menu:

l 3D HandEye Field Calibrator

Create a rigid transformation that maps points from a Cognex sensor to the 3D space defined by a robot-
coordinate system.
l A5000 Viewer
Set acquisition parameters for a 3D-A5000 sensor that can be saved for your QuickBuild or Visual Studio
application.

l CAD Import Tool

Convert a CAD file into a 3D range image file.
l Cognex Comm Card Configurator
Configure the Ethernet settings of your Cognex Communication Card.
l Cognex GigE Vision Configurator
Set the IP addresses for your GigE network adapters and GigE Vision cameras.
l DS Field Calibrator
Calibrate one or more 3D sensors to create a unified 3D coordinate space.
l IDB Editor
Create and modify images in an image database file.
l Image & Mask Editor
Add a masking pattern to the training image of a CNLSearch or PMAlign tool.
l Image Font Extractor
Create an image font file from an existing image.
l Image Grading Utility
Create a library of records for a set of existing images, assigning them grades of Accept, Reject or Unknown
based on the features they exhibit.

l VisionPro 3D Viewer
View 3D range images in three dimensions.
l VisionPro Controls Wizard
Populates the tool palette in Visual Studio with the latest set of VisionPro edit controls.

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