October 2008 Editor's Picks: Products from Cognex and W.L. Gore and Associates

Cognex
Enhanced display provides greater control
Cognex (Natick, MA) offers new features to its “VisionView” operator display panel, which communicates with the company’s “In-Sight” and “DVT” vision systems. Engineers can now use the In-Sight system to choose vision-system parameters to display and modify on the factory floor. Through touch-screen controls, operators can use VisionView to change lot codes and change regions of interest. Operators do not need a computer to make these changes, which saves time during product changeover. Engineers can apply password protection to allow only authorized personnel to change critical processes.

An additional benefit of the enhancement is that it only exposes operators to the parts of the In-Sight software that they need to control the vision system, says Narayan Subramaniam, Cognex’s product manager for VisionView. Operators thus do not need extensive training to use the display. He adds that the new VisionView makes it easier to deploy an operator panel.

W.L. Gore and Associates
Online interface facilitates fluid-assembly design
W.L. Gore and Associates (Newark, DE) has introduced its “STA-PURE Bioprocess Configurator,” an online tool that allows users to design single-use fluid assemblies for biopharmaceutical manufacturing. The interface includes menus of components, including tubing, connectors, and peripherals, that users can drag and drop into a workspace to design an assembly. The application quickens the design process and helps clients communicate what they want to build. The tool thus allows clients to begin production quickly, according to Greg Tronto, business leader of single-use bioprocess components.

The STA-PURE tool includes built-in rules that do not allow users to design assemblies with parts that do not fit. Users can create nonstandard designs, however, Tronto explains. Components automatically snap in place in the correct orientation when users drag them around the drawing. The application allows clients to save their designs, which alerts Gore that a user might need assistance. It does not prompt users for personal information until they are ready to save or submit their design to Gore.