AMS Launches 10K/15K Resolution Line Scan Image Sensors
February 12, 2021
Austria’s AMS, which develops high-performance sensor solutions, has launched its 4LS series, adding new faster and higher resolution line scan image sensors to its family of sensors for machine-vision applications. Cameras equipped with 4LS sensors can help operators of the latest smart factories to maintain the highest standards of quality control while increasing the volume of production output, the company said.
Offered in versions with 10K and 15K resolutions, the 4LS image sensors feature four red/green/blue/clear channels scanning at up to 120,000 lines per second. The 4LS series offers system designers the flexibility to meet various application requirements. Each of the four lines can be independently controlled and operated simultaneously for full-color image capture. In addition, camera manufacturers can implement 4:1 digital Time Delay and Integration (TDI) to achieve high image quality in low lighting conditions, or to perform high-speed object inspection, AMS said.
Customers can choose either an 8-bit or 12-bit LVDS output to provide the most appropriate trade-off between image quality in speed, the company added. Lastly, full well-charge options range from 10 ke- to 40 ke- to enable use in several illumination conditions.
“The launch of the 4LS image sensors provides designers of line scan image cameras a new option to increase scanning speeds and to support improved full-color image reproduction,” said Peter Vandersteegen, segment marketing manager at AMS.
Applications within factory automation include Automatic Identification and Data Capture (ADIC), volume and distance measurement, motion analysis, intelligent transportation systems, and document scanning. In addition to the Dragster series and new 4LS line scanning sensors, AMS offers several product families to address machine-vision applications and use cases in 1D, 2D, and 3D. More recently, machine vision has been used with complex autonomous robots and cobots.
“AMS is a leader for VCSEL-based illuminators and high quantum efficiency NIR image sensors,” said Pierre Laboisse, executive vice president of global sales and marketing at MAS. “This equipment benefits from accurate 2D, and ideally 3D visualizations of the environment and object to be worked with. Near-infrared illumination, both with flood- and high-contrast dot illuminators, combined with sensitive NIR image sensors enables compact, cost-effective, and high-performance 3D systems immune to uncontrolled illumination conditions.”
The 4LS line scan image sensor is supplied as a chip-on-board (CoB) module, mounted on a mechanically robust and thermally stable Invar package, AMS said. PCB interfaces of the 4LS 10K and 4LS 15K are fully compatible and interchangeable, allowing line scan camera manufacturers to build a family of products with different resolutions. Pixel size in the new 4LS line is 5.6µm x 5.6µm. Dynamic range is up to 54dB, and quantum efficiency is 61% at 530nm.
AMS said it will continue to supply the Dragster series of line scan image sensors, which are available in single-line and two-line versions, with resolutions ranging from 2K up to 16K. The new line are in volume production and can be ordered through AMS authorized distribution partners. For more details and sample requests, head to this website.
