Microscan Releases Single Smart Camera Platform for Barcode Reading and Machine Vision

MicroHAWK provides a single, omni-capable platform for any automation task

Microscan, a global manufacturer and pioneer of miniature barcode imagers and machine vision smart cameras for industrial automation, redefines imaging technology as a single, omni-capable platform for any automation task. MicroHAWK® offers the breadth of Microscan software and hardware options on one of the smallest smart camera suites ever developed. It offers scalability to accomplish basic to high-performance auto ID as well as simple to advanced machine vision in one. The MicroHAWK family includes a fully-integrated imaging engine and three industrial-rated miniature imagers.

Microscan’s 30-year legacy of innovation has contributed much to the history of auto ID and machine vision technology. Compact size, high performance, ease of use, and scalability have been the driving objectives of Microscan engineering. With the release of the MicroHAWK platform in 2015, Microscan re-engineered the form factor of its barcode reader line from the ground up to offer the industry’s most capable, intuitive and flexible barcode imagers at an incredibly small scale.

Today, Microscan announces that it has now added its full range of machine vision tools to the ultra-compact MicroHAWK platform, releasing one of the world’s smallest fully-integrated machine vision systems. Paired with Microscan’s browser-based WebLink UI, simplified AutoVISION Machine Vision Software, or the advanced Visionscape® Machine Vision Software, MicroHAWK Smart Cameras (MV-20, MV-30, and MV-40) expand the concept of industrial imaging from barcode imaging alone to the universal imaging of any code, text, or part feature to accomplish any automation task based on visible data. MicroHAWK now provides users a single hardware solution with options to meet various decoding or inspection tasks, in any integration space, and at any experience level.

“We continue to observe a trend toward the ‘flattening’ of the industrial automation architecture, enabling manufacturers to do more with less,” says Microscan President Scott Summerville. “Like the evolution of cell phones to smart phones, the evolution of barcode imagers and PC-based machine vision cameras to smart cameras is yielding single solutions with unlimited application potential. These smart cameras have the ability to offer what were once thought of as independent technologies on a single, all-in-one platform.”

With the addition of machine vision, users can choose their device’s software capability to accomplish barcode reading, machine vision, or a combination of the two on a single, adaptable platform. The browser-based WebLink interface provides MicroHAWK cameras with industry-leading X-Mode decoding technology for reading any code, from high-contrast 1D to the most challenging direct part marks (DPM). Alternately, AutoVISION software provides MicroHAWK with Auto ID+ capability for the barcode reading performance of WebLink plus a range of inspection tools offered through Microscan’s machine vision library, scalable to Visionscape for complex inspection.

With unrestricted software capability now available for MicroHAWK, users are able to address the breadth of applications image-based ID, measurement, gauging, defect-detection, and guidance from the smallest devices available, the largest version measuring just 25 mm x 45 mm x 45 mm.

Learn more about the MicroHAWK platform or request a demo at www.microscan.com/microhawk.

About Microscan

Microscan is a global technology leader in precision data acquisition and control solutions serving a wide range of automation and OEM applications. Founded in 1982, Microscan has a strong history of innovation that includes the invention of the first laser diode barcode scanner and the Data Matrix symbology. Today, Microscan remains a technology leader in automatic identification and machine vision with extensive solutions for ID tracking, traceability, and inspection, ranging from basic barcode reading to complex machine vision inspection, identification, and measurement.

As an ISO 9001:2008-certified company recognized for quality leadership in the U.S., Microscan is known and trusted by customers worldwide as a provider of quality, high-precision products. Microscan is a subsidiary of Spectris plc, a leading supplier of productivity-enhancing instrumentation and controls.