How Zivid SDK solves fundamental challenges in 3D machine vision.

SDK 2.0 is a major update of Zivid’s software development kit. It introduces a range of ground-breaking industry firsts, including filtering to correct contrast distortion artifacts, enhanced HDR image capture sequencing, and multi-camera calibration.

The new contrast distortion correction will enable developers to address a fundamental source of error in active 3D measurement technology such as structured light. Signal blur at high-contrast transitions, notably on metal surfaces with strong highlights, cause artifacts and heavily distorted/deformed 3D point clouds. Zivid’s enhanced vision engine algorithm effectively removes the problem for the very first time.

Ruben Smits, Co-founder and VP of Engineering at Pickit, a proficient user of Zivid One+ 3D cameras and a trailblazer in vision-guided robot solutions, said,

Abrupt black to white transitions and regions of specular reflections, like those on a shiny metal cylinder for example, have always induced errors in-depth decoding, causing distorted surfaces. Zivid’s distortion correction filtering rectifies such aberrations, ensuring a truer, more accurate 3D image. We are excited to see that previously impossible machine vision applications are now made possible.

Updates to the software development kit’s core API settings also mean more intuitive and flexible HDR image capture sequencing. Both single and multi-acquisition HDR images can be accessed, with developers now having the option to output the specific image data they need for an application;

• three dimensions (XYZ)
• homogenous coordinates (XYZW)
• color (RGBA)
• point data (XYZRGBA)
• Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) value

or any combination applicable for the task at hand.

Importantly, by optimizing GPU to CPU image data transactions, the SDK will also help streamline and accelerate 3D image data handling. This is of particular benefit in high speed, cycle time-critical applications.

For robot cells requiring a 360º view of a target object, Zivid’s new software development kit also supports full-picture, multi-camera calibration. Reducing the need for object rotation, the new software enables all static and robot-mounted cameras to be set-up using a common calibration pattern and operated according to a unified coordinate system.

Availability

For use with all Zivid One+ 3D color cameras and Windows and Linux, the Zivid SDK 2.0 beta is available today as a free download. The production release will be made available at the end of June.