Advanced Parameters

Most AutoVISION tools have an Advanced Parameters menu that allows you more granular control of tool functionality. Click the icon shown here to open the Advanced Parameters menu for any tool.

 

 

Important: If you are using a color camera, the Advanced Parameters dialogs will display a Color Channel dropdown menu at the top of the dialog as shown in the example below. Luminance is the default Color Channel value.

 

 

Camera Advanced Parameters

 

 

See the Camera section for details about camera settings.

Gain and Offset are the operations that are applied to the incoming video signal.

Gain is a multiplier. Gain varies between 0 and 1, where 0 is no gain, and 1 is full gain.

 

Offset is an addition or subtraction. Offset is between -255 and 255.

 

A high gain may be used to enhance the signal-to-noise ratio, and then a negative offset applied to re-center the signal at an intermediate gray level of 128.

 

Note: The SXGA sensor has only 5 levels of gain: 0, .25, .5, .75, and 1.

 

 

Locate Tool (Locate Shape) Advanced Parameters

 

 

See the Locate Tool section for details about locate settings.

 

Effort Level provides a mechanism for adjusting the recognition effort for the tool. There are five options available: Lowest, Low, Normal, High, and Exhaustive. This setting has a large impact on the robustness of the tool at the cost of performance. Normal is adequate for most operations.

 

 

 

Positioning Accuracy provides a mechanism for adjusting the speed/accuracy tradeoff of the positioning process though a scale that ranges from Fast to Accurate. Options are Fast, Coarse, Normal, Fine, and Accurate. Normal is adequate for most operations.

 

 

 

Enable Scale Search enables scale intolerance searching to locate the object if it is larger or smaller than a trained model. Note that enabling Scale Search increases search time similar to enabling rotation search.

 

Minimum Scale sets smallest search size of model. A value of 0.5 corresponds to 50%.

 

Maximum Scale sets largest search size of model. A value of 2 corresponds to 200%.

 

Conformity Tolerance allows you to set custom conformity tolerance. This is the width of the band +/- in pixels within which the contour is allowed to vary and still be found. If part shape varies slightly between parts, increasing conformity tolerance allows it to be located more easily.

 

Example: The image below shows a large conformity tolerance. The cross edges can vary anywhere within the yellow boundary and still be considered part of the model.

 

 

 

Min % of Model Match is the value for which a possible match will be further analyzed as a final match candidate. This should always be set lower than the Accept Threshold.

 

Model Name (Read-Only) is the name that AutoVISION automatically assigns to the locate model.

 

 

Locate Tool (Locate Blob) Advanced Parameters

 

 

See Count Tool Parameters for details about blob functionality. Locate Blob parameters are the same as the normal settings for the Count Tool, which also uses blob algorithms.

 

 

Decode Tool Advanced Parameters

 

Important: Advanced Decoding Parameters can be entered directly in the field to the right of Custom Features in the Decode Tool Advanced Parameters menu shown below. See Advanced Decoding Parameters for detailed descriptions of Advanced Decoding command syntax and functionality.

 

 

 

OCR Tool (Standard OCR) Advanced Parameters

 

 

See Standard OCR Parameters for details about Standard OCR Tool settings.

 

Unknown Character is the character that will be returned from the font reading process when no match can be made within the selected font.

The default: character is ?. For example, if the tool cannot decipher the 'H' in "MICROHAWK", the output string will be MICRO?AWK.

 

If the string has multiple lines, the Multiline Separator will be inserted into the string between lines.

 

Min Character Area (Pixels) is displayed only when you disable the Allow Segmented Characters option. This setting specifies the minimum size of a character, thereby eliminating segments that are too small to be characters by themselves. The default setting is 40 pixels.

 

 

OCR Tool (IntelliText OCR) Advanced Parameters

 

 

Please see IntelliText OCR Parameters for details about IntelliText OCR Tool settings.

 

IntelliText OCR improves consistency and readability of a variety of substandard marks, such as inkjet marks or marks on noisy backgrounds. Significant improvements over Standard OCR can be seen in the following areas:

 

 

Min Character Area (Pixels) is displayed only when you disable the Allow Segmented Characters option. This setting specifies the minimum size of a character, thereby eliminating segments that are too small to be characters by themselves. The default setting is 40 pixels.

 

Unknown Character is the character that will be returned from the font reading process when no match can be made within the selected font. The default: character is ?. For example, if the tool cannot decipher the 'H' in "MICROHAWK", the output string will be MICRO?AWK.

 

If the string has multiple lines, the Multiline Separator will be inserted into the string between lines.

 

Discard Boundary Characters ignores characters that touch the search box.

 

Character Slant Detection turns on if characters are expected to slant heavily to the right or the left. Detection is better for non-slanted characters when Character Slant Detection is turned off.

 

Single Line Detection turns on when there is only a single line of characters. This helps optimize character segmentation for difficult symbols. Often the best option for difficult symbols is to add one OCR Tool per line and then to use the String Format Tool to concatenate the strings into a single string.

 

 

Count Tool (Blob Count) Advanced Parameters

 

 

See Count Tool Parameters for details about Count Tool settings.

 

 

Count Tool (Shape Count) Advanced Parameters

 

 

See Count Tool Parameters for details about Count Tool settings.

 

Effort Level provides a mechanism for adjusting the recognition effort for the tool. There are five options available: Lowest, Low, Normal, High, and Exhaustive. This setting has a large impact on the robustness of the tool at the cost of performance. Normal is adequate for most operations.

 

 

 

Positioning Accuracy provides a mechanism for adjusting the speed/accuracy tradeoff of the positioning process though a scale that ranges from Fast to Accurate. Options are Fast, Coarse, Normal, Fine, and Accurate. Normal is adequate for most operations.

 

 

 

Enable Scale Search enables scale tolerance searching to locate the object if it is larger or smaller than a trained model. Note that enabling scale search increases search time, similar to enabling rotation search.

 

Minimum Scale sets smallest search size of model. A value of 0.5 corresponds to 50%.

 

Maximum Scale sets largest search size of model. A value of 2 corresponds to 200%.

 

Conformity Tolerance allows you to set custom conformity tolerance. This is the width of the band +/- in pixels within which the contour is allowed to vary and still be found. If a shape varies slightly between parts, increasing conformity tolerance allows it to be located more easily.

 

Example: The image below shows a large conformity tolerance. The cross edges can vary anywhere within the yellow boundary and still be considered part of the model.

 

 

Min % of Model Match is the value for which a possible match will be further analyzed as a final match candidate. This should always be set lower than Accept Threshold.

 

Model Name (Read-Only) is the name that AutoVISION automatically assigns to the locate model.

 

 

Presence/Absence Tool Advanced Parameters

 

 

See Presence/Absence Tool Parameters for details about Presence/Absence settings.

 

 

Measure Tool (Width) Advanced Parameters

 

 

See Measure Tool Parameters for details about Width Measure settings.

 

Distance Type is the method used to measure distance between lines.

 

Point-to-Point measures from the center point of Edge1 to the center point of Edge2.

 

Point-to-Line measures the perpendicular distance between the center point of the first edge to the line of the second edge.

 

 

Measure Tool (Height) Advanced Parameters

 

 

See Measure Tool Parameters for details about Height Measure settings.

 

Distance Type is the method used to measure distance between lines.

 

Point-to-Point measures from the center point of Edge1 to the center point of Edge2.

 

Point-to-Line measures the perpendicular distance between the center point of the first edge to the line of the second edge.

 

 

Measure Tool (Circle) Advanced Parameters

 

 

See Measure Tool Parameters for details about Circle Measure settings.

 

Result Type specifies the type of output and provides a choice between Transitions and Lines:

 

 

 

Edge Point Selection: First, Best, Last, Nth, All. By default, the Circle Fit tool will use the highest-strength edge. This parameter allows you to choose which transition or line along the vector to select.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enable Radius and Location Filter: Only points that are within the settings of these parameters will be used as inputs to the circle fit.

 

Circle Completeness sets where points on the circle have to be located for circle fit to be generated.

 

 

 

 

Measure Tool (Point-to-Point) Advanced Parameters

 

 

See Measure Tool Parameters for details about Point-to-Point settings.

 

 

Measure Tool (Point-to-Line) Advanced Parameters

 

 

See Measure Tool Parameters for details about Point-to-Line settings.

 

 

Measure Tool (Angle) Advanced Parameters

 

 

See Measure Tool Parameters for details about Angle settings.

 

 

Match Strings Tool Advanced Parameters

 

 

See Match Strings Tool Parameters for details about Match Strings settings.

 

 

String Format Tool Advanced Parameters

 

 

See String Format Tool Parameters for details about String Format settings.

 

 

OCV Tool Advanced Parameters

 

 

See OCV Tool Parameters for details about OCV settings.

 

The OCV string is found by first locating two characters in the string. Typically it is the first and last character. This parameter allows you to set which characters to use as locators.

 

AutoFind: Distance Tolerance: The string can have similar characters next to each other. This can cause the locate function to choose the wrong characters. By specifying the tolerance, the algorithm determines which character is correct by comparing the trained distance between the characters and the current distance. If the difference is less than the tolerance, that pair will be used for location.

 

AutoFind Pin 1 Index: Default is 0 for the first character.

 

AutoFind Pin 2 Index: Default is 999 for the last character.

 

Individual Symbol Search X and Individual Symbol Search Y: Once the general string is found, each character is located before comparison is performed. The following parameters set how far the algorithm will search for each character compared to its trained location. If the character spacing or vertical location vary widely, these parameters can be used to increase the search area. The larger the search area, the longer the tool takes to run. The default for Individual Symbol Search X and Individual Symbol Search Y is 3 pixels.

 

 

Symbol Quality Verification Tool (ISO15415) Advanced Parameters

 

 

See Symbol Quality Verification Tool Parameters for details about Symbol Quality Verification settings.

 

Setup Notes: The ISO verification standards each provide a recommended or reference geometric, optical, and lighting configuration. You are encouraged to consult the latest revision of the standard to ensure compatibility. In broad terms, the goals of the standards are to specify measurement configurations that are consistent with appropriate or likely reading scenarios. If you deviate from the reference, you should include the light type, wavelength, and light configuration in the Setup Notes. The notes will be provided as part of the report.

 

 

Symbol Quality Verification Tool (AIMDPM/ISO29158) Advanced Parameters

 

 

See Symbol Quality Verification Tool Parameters for details about Symbol Quality Verification settings.

 

Setup Notes: The ISO verification standards each provide a recommended or reference geometric, optical, and lighting configuration. You are encouraged to consult the latest revision of the standard to ensure compatibility. In broad terms, the goals of the standards are to specify measurement configurations that are consistent with appropriate or likely reading scenarios. If you deviate from the reference, you should include the light type, wavelength, and light configuration in the Setup Notes. The notes will be provided as part of the report.

 

 

Symbol Quality Verification Tool (ISO15416) Advanced Parameters

 

 

See Symbol Quality Verification Tool Parameters for details about Symbol Quality Verification settings.

 

Setup Notes: The ISO verification standards each provide a recommended or reference geometric, optical, and lighting configuration. You are encouraged to consult the latest revision of the standard to ensure compatibility. In broad terms the goals of the standards are to specify measurement configurations that are consistent with appropriate or likely reading scenarios. If you deviate from the reference, you should include the light type, wavelength, and light configuration in the Setup Notes. The notes will be provided as part of the report.