Dalsa announced a new release of software for its Boa smart cameras. Inspect Express version 1700 adds new features, improves performance, and offers greater ease-of-use. Designed for automated inspection and quality assurance, Boa smart cameras provide cost-effective machine vision solutions for end-users across a broad spectrum of industries. The Inspect Express software interface allows users of all experience levels to setup and deploy solutions with no programming required.

"The functionality of our Boa smart camera continues to advance at a rapid pace," says Steve Geraghty, Director of Dalsa Industrial Products. "With this latest version of Inspect Express software, we are again improving the inspection performance of Boa, while at the same time incorporating many new features requested by our fast-growing customer base."

The new version of Boa software introduces optimized algorithms for 360° search, optical character recognition (OCR) and 2D matrix reading, as well as improved calibration tools. These optimizations provide greater robustness and over 10 times speed improvement in some applications. Also introduced with this release is a new PC-based application for displaying images and results from multiple Boa cameras on the same screen. Operators using this application can monitor production, change job files and review inspection history of any Boa connected to the local network.

In addition to these core optimizations, Inspect Express 1700 software includes improvements to the user interface. The built-in script tool has been enhanced with new functions and a syntax checker, a new string editor has been embedded to simplify integration with third party equipment, and interactive tool management has been implemented to assist users during program development. These and other improvements introduced in Inspect Express 1700 will extend Boa usage to more difficult applications that typically demand more expensive solutions.

Inspect Express version 1700 will commence shipping on Boa cameras February 1st, 2011. Free field upgrades are available through the Dalsa distribution network.