Pioneer in machine vision
Starting with frame grabbers, PC plug-in cards for digitising analog image data, the change to an industrial camera manufacturer came in 2004. With the introduction of GigE models in 2007 and later the entry into the 3D segment with the Ensenso 3D cameras, another threshold was crossed.
But the market is changing: It’s about more than just developing easy-to-use cameras. Instead, the applications are much more in the foreground and the tasks of the customers are becoming increasingly complex. The company is therefore currently focusing on the question of how IDS products can contribute even more to developing innovations that have a positive impact on people, the environment and society.
An important keyword in this context is certainly AI: It solves tasks that classical image processing usually fails at or at least is very complex to implement and thus opens up completely new fields of application. However, many companies have reservations about the new technology, whether due to a lack of time, expertise or control and certification options.
For many decision makers, AI is still difficult to understand. A lack of acceptance is the result. IDS wants to specifically counteract this and leverages its position as one of the leading companies in the field of industrial cameras to massively facilitate access to artificial intelligence with easy-to-use, intelligent image processing components.
“The will to create something new is firmly anchored in all of us”, explains Jan Hartmann, IDS’ Managing Director and son of the company founder. There are now two generations working in the company, leading the continuous growth of the industrial camera manufacturer from Germany which celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2022.
The innovative approach, coupled with an intuition for technological trends and a great willingness to change, is IDS Imaging Development System’s key to success. But, the pioneer in industrial image processing is positioning itself not only with innovations, but as an “enabler”. User friendliness is above all. The company from Obersulm, Germany wants to support its customers in finding solutions more quickly and easily.
AI vision systems for smart city applications
With IDS´s latest innovation, IDS NXT (an AI vision ecosystem) is available for this purpose, consisting of intelligent cameras with an intuitive software environment. It enables the execution of AI processes directly in the camera. The system offers beginners and professionals alike unprecedented scope for designing AI vision applications.
“IDS wants to make it easier for users to access this key technology and help them initiate urgently needed automation processes with easy-to-use, intelligent image processing components,” emphasises Jürgen Hartmann. The opportunities offered by corresponding solutions are enormous and associated with completely new fields of application, such as environment, smart farming, smart transport and smart cities on a broader scale.
Especially in smart city applications, the area of security technology plays an important role. Here, AI vision systems can detect events in real time that indicate a security risk e.g. in the anonymised monitoring of public buildings or places. Indicators of mass panic at major events can be detected.
Paired with AI-based facial recognition systems, access to security relevant areas by unauthorised persons, such as data centres or server rooms, can be prevented. At the same time, certain objects in images can be recognised that point to a security risk. For example, an AI system can spot the presence of weapons, explosive materials or hazardous chemicals and trigger an alarm.
Users can access solutions of this kind via the new and so far unique online marketplace for image processing – “visionpier”. With this, IDS is building a virtual bridge between users, with or without image processing experience, and providers of turnkey vision solutions; they can discuss solutions, develop or enhance them, use, adapt and reuse them.
This expansion of the business focus not only means setting up a company more broadly for the coming years, but also penetrating industries in which IDS can make a direct positive effect on growing socio-political challenges.
Read the rest of this exclusive interview in our latest issue here.
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Editor, Security Portfolio
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