Chapter 1
Introduction
©
National Instruments Corporation
1-3
NI-IMAQ performs all functions required for acquiring and saving images
but does not perform image analysis. For image analysis functionality, refer
to the
National Instruments Application Software
section of this chapter.
NI-IMAQ also provides the interface path between the NI 1411 and
LabVIEW, LabWindows
™
/CVI
™
, or a text-based programming
environment. The NI-IMAQ software kit includes a series of libraries for
image acquisition for LabVIEW, LabWindows/CVI, and Measurement
Studio, which contains libraries for Microsoft Visual Basic.
NI-IMAQ features both high-level and low-level functions. Examples of
high-level functions include the sequences to acquire images in
multi-buffer, single-shot, or continuous mode. An example of a low-level
function is configuring an image sequence, since it requires advanced
understanding of the image acquisition device and image acquisition
principles.
National Instruments Application Software
This section describes the National Instruments application software
packages you can use to analyze and process the images you acquire with
the NI 1411.
Vision Builder for Automated Inspection
NI Vision Builder for Automated Inspection (AI) is configurable machine
vision software that you can use to prototype, benchmark, and deploy
applications. Vision Builder AI does not require programming, but is
scalable to powerful programming environments.
Vision Builder AI allows you to easily configure and benchmark a
sequence of visual inspection steps, as well as deploy the visual inspection
system for automated inspection. With Vision Builder AI, you can perform
powerful visual inspection tasks and make decisions based on the results of
individual tasks. You also can migrate the configured inspection to
LabVIEW, extending the capabilities of the applications if necessary.
