Matrox Design Assistant offers a comprehensive set of steps and features to build your flowcharts.
The following is a summary of the step packages which can be added to your flowchart in Matrox Design Assistant, excluding the communication step packages:
Step category |
Step |
Description |
Analysis and Processing |
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BlobAnalysis step |
Identifies connected regions of pixels within an image, and then calculates selected features of those regions. |
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ColorMatcher step |
Matches color-samples in multiple areas using different metrics in RGB, HSL, or CIELAB color spaces. The ColorMatcher step can identify, segment, or determine percentages of colors in an object. |
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ImageProcessing step |
Implements various image processing operations (such as filtering, morphology, color conversion, and color projection) to transform, enhance, and analyze images. |
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IntensityChecker step |
Retrieves the intensity minimum, maximum, average, and contrast in a configurable region of the image. This can be used to detect the presence of an object or markings. |
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Finders |
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CircleFinder step |
Finds circle patterns (models) in the destination image using an edge-based geometric match. |
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EdgeLocator step |
Locates an edge in a rectangular region of the image. |
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EllipseFinder step |
Finds ellipse models in the destination image using an edge-based geometric match. |
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ModelFinder step |
Finds models in the source image using an edge-based geometric match. |
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PatternMatching step |
Finds models in the source image using a correlation-based search. |
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RectangleFinder step |
Finds rectangle models in the destination image using an edge-based geometric match. |
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SegmentFinder step |
Finds line segment models in the destination image using an edge-based geometric match. |
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Measurements |
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Measurement step |
Finds edge, stripe and circle markers in an image. |
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Metrology step |
Fits geometric shapes (features) to regions in the image, or imports features from other steps' results. Performs measurements and tolerance checks on the features. |
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BeadInspection step |
Verifies the width, position, and continuity of a stream of material such as an adhesive. |
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Readers |
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CodeGrade step |
Performs standard symbol (code) grading operations. It requires a link to a CodeReader step. |
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CodeReader step |
Reads codes from one-dimensional (1D), 2-dimensional (2D), and composite symbologies (code types). The CodeReader step handles rotated, scaled, and degraded codes. |
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StringReader step |
Reads text from an image. |
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SureDotOCR step |
Performs optical character recognition (OCR) on dot-matrix text in an image. |
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Registration |
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PhotometricStereo step |
Uses different lit images of a static scene to produce a single image that emphasizes substrate irregularities. |
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Classification |
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CNNClassIndex step |
Uses a convolutional neural network (CNN) to classify images. |
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Image |
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Calibration step |
Creates a calibration file from a grid in the image or from a list of points. |
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Camera step |
Acquires images from your camera or from disk. Optionally, associates a calibration file with the image or warps the image to correct distortions. |
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CameraFocus step |
Adjusts a camera's lens to a position that produces optimum focus, or only calculate the focus quality of a specified image or an image grabbed at the current lens position or manually adjust the lens position. Changing lens position requires an Iris GTR with Varioptic lens. |
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CameraSettings step |
Changes initial camera settings in a flowchart. |
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Fixture step |
Creates a fixture that is defined from positions, angles, and lines, or from an existing fixture with an offset. |
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ImageCorrection step |
Warps the input image or a region of the image to align its fixtured coordinates with the image coordinates. |
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ImageWriter step |
Saves images to a shared network folder, an unsecured FTP or HTTP server, or a folder local to your runtime platform, with an optional sidecar text file. |
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LoadImage step |
Loads images from a shared network folder, an unsecured FTP or HTTP server, or a folder local to your runtime platform. |
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Trigger step |
Generates a software trigger to grab an image. |
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WhiteBalance step |
Calculates the parameters needed to produce balanced grays and white. |
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Flow Control |
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Break step |
Breaks out of the loop, allowing your project to continue. |
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Condition step |
Splits the flow based on a true/false (yes/no) decision. |
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Continue step |
Starts a new iteration of the loop if the condition evaluates to true. |
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Error step |
Breaks out of the loop, going directly to the Status step. |
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Halt step |
Pauses, halts, or delays the execution of the flowchart. |
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Loop step |
Repeats a series of steps until a specified condition is reached. Note that the Break step and Continue step can be used to control the flow of your project within a loop. |
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Status step |
Generates an overall pass/fail status from the specified conditions in your flowchart. When an error occurs in a preceding step, the error is caught and the status is set to fail. |
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Switch step |
Allows conditional flowchart execution of various sequences of steps. Path decisions are made based on the evaluation of the logical expression associated with each case. |
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Utilities |
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Counter step |
Increments a counter in your flowchart. This step is deprecated. It is recommended to use variables as counters in your flowchart. |
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DeleteFiles step |
Deletes files from a list of paths. |
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PositionStamp step |
Retrieves the value stored by one of the reference latches of an I/O command list. |
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ProjectSwitcher step |
Terminates the current project and switches to another project. This step is part of a legacy approach. For alternatives, see the Strategies for inspecting product variants section in Chapter 54: Switching products to inspect. |
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Reconfigure step |
Changes the value of other step inputs, including model images and color-sample images, during runtime. |
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ResetCounters step |
Resets the internal counters of all selected Status steps, ImageWriter steps, and Counter steps. |
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Store step |
Stores data to one or more variables. |
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TextReader step |
Allows reading text files from disk. |
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TextWriter step |
Allows writing text files to disk. |
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TimeStamp step |
Gets the current time. |
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Recipes |
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CreateRecipe step |
Creates a new recipe that is based on the recipe currently in use. |
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DeleteRecipe step |
Deletes the specified recipe. |
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LoadRecipe step |
Loads the specified recipe. |
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SavePersistentData step |
Saves to file the current value of all operator view input elements, variables, and reconfigured inputs that are persistent. |
The following is an summary of the communication step packages that are available in Matrox Design Assistant:
Type of step |
Step |
Description |
Communication Settings |
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CommSettings step |
Modifies the online/offline state of individual communication protocols. |
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IO |
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IOReader step |
Receives user-defined input signals from a device connected to the auxiliary I/O pins. |
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IOSettings step |
Allows the modification of certain input and output signal settings during runtime. |
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IOWriter step |
Sends user-defined output signals to a device connected to the auxiliary I/O pins. |
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TimerSettings step |
Modifies a timer's settings. Hardware timers are available on certain platforms (for example, Matrox 4Sight GPm and Matrox Iris GTR). |
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Serial Port |
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SerialPortReader step |
Receives data from a device connected to the serial port. |
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SerialPortSetup step |
Configures the serial port to be used in a subsequent SerialPortReader step and/or a SerialPortWriter step. |
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SerialPortWriter step |
Sends data to a device connected to the serial port. |
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Network |
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NetworkConnection step |
Configures a network connection to be used in a subsequent NetworkReader step and/or a NetworkWriter step. |
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NetworkReader step |
Receives data from another device on your network. |
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NetworkWriter step |
Sends data to another device on your network. |
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Modbus |
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ModbusReader step |
Reads values stored in the registers used by the Modbus protocol. |
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ModbusWriter step |
Stores values in the registers used by the Modbus protocol. |
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EtherNet/IP |
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EthernetIPReader step |
Reads data from consumer or configuration assemblies used by the EtherNet/IP protocol. |
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EthernetIPWriter step |
Writes data to a producer assembly used by the EtherNet/IP protocol. |
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PROFINET |
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ProfinetReader step |
The PROFINET protocol service reads data from an output module, which contains data stored by the PLC. |
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ProfinetWriter step |
The PROFINET protocol service writes data to an input module, which is received by the PLC. |
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Robot |
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RobotParameters step |
Retrieves robot position parameters from the last robot controller request. |
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RobotWait step |
Waits for a robot controller to request a position. |
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RobotWriter step |
Sends a position to a robot controller. |
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Operator View |
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Navigate step |
Switches to another operator view while the project is running. |
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OperatorInputs step |
Retrieves values entered on the operator view web page. This step is deprecated. For alternatives, see the Binding subsection of the Configuring input elements section in Chapter 50: Customizing the operator view. |
The Matrox Design Assistant functionality also includes:
An Expression Editor to manipulate results and format data strings for output.
The temporary storage of values and images in variables.
Subflowcharts to organize and reuse sections of flowcharts and to handle events.
Static template images loaded from files, which serve as reference parts or masks.
Custom steps to implement proprietary algorithms and communication protocols. Several sample custom steps are provided (for example, the ArrayInput custom step, the DateTime custom step, the ImageRotator custom step, and the OCR custom step). You can develop custom steps in the Microsoft Visual C# framework, which can call other DLLs; the DLLs need to be compiled for the runtime platform.