Chapter 4 Lighting
© National Instruments Corporation 4-5 NI 17xx Smart Camera User Manual
To use a light that does not have a lighting file, you can enter the lighting
data manually in MAX or Vision Builder AI:
• In MAX—Select the Lighting tab of the NI Smart Camera
configuration page. Click Configure Light, and select Enter
Lighting Data Manually.
• In Vision Builder AI—Select the Lighting tab of the Acquire Image
(Smart Camera) step. Click Configure Light Source, and select
Enter Lighting Data Manually.
Lighting files are installed to the following locations when you install
NI-IMAQ.
X
represents the letter of the CD drive:
•Windows Vista—
X
:\Users\Public\Documents\National
Instruments\NI-IMAQ\Data
• Windows XP/2000—
X
:\Documents and Settings\All Users\
Documents\National Instruments\NI-IMAQ\Data
Selecting a Light
This section applies only to the following NI Smart Cameras:
National Instruments software provides support for a variety of lights from
major machine vision lighting companies. However, if your light is not in
the list of supported lights, you may still be able to use your light with the
Direct Drive lighting controller.
To determine if your light is compatible with the NI Smart Camera, verify
the following:
• The light is current controlled and not voltage controlled.
• The smart camera can provide enough current to obtain the desired
illumination from the light.
• The maximum voltage drop specified for the light does not exceed the
specified range of the smart camera. Under some circumstances, some
LEDs, particularly certain lights with white and blue LEDs, require a
higher voltage drop than usual to turn on or reach full brightness. Such
lights may be incompatible with the smart camera. These lights may
need to be reconfigured by the manufacturer to bring the voltage drop
within the specified range of the smart camera.
• NI 1742 • NI 1762
• NI 1744 • NI 1764
