Developing multiple projects to run simultaneously

When developing multiple projects to run simultaneously, it can be useful to have multiple projects open at design-time. Each of these projects must be opened in its own separate instance (window) of Matrox Design Assistant.

You can only connect one instance of Matrox Design Assistant to your runtime platform at any time; therefore, all but one of your projects must be opened in emulation mode (or be connected to other platforms of the same type as the runtime platform). All projects that are run simultaneously must be from the same version of Matrox Design Assistant. For more information, see the Multiple versions of Matrox Design Assistant subsection of the Installation section in Appendix B: Installation information.

Modifying settings while projects are running

You cannot typically modify settings in the Platform Configuration dialog while projects are running. To stop the running projects and make modifications, such as changing the exposure time, use the Stop project () toolbar button in the Platform toolbar or the Stop all button in the Matrox Design Assistant configuration portal. The Stop project toolbar button lists the name of each running project and lets you to stop them individually or all at once.

By disabling the Start this project after transfer option in the Deploy Project dialog, you can avoid having to intermittently stop your running projects while you are still configuring others.

Once you finish configuring every project and are ready to run them all, you can start them from the Matrox Design Assistant configuration portal.

Note that, when running multiple projects, it is still possible to validate changes to them, by accessing the PROJECT CHANGE VALIDATOR tab of the PROJECTS portal page. For more information, see Chapter 62: Project Change Validator.

Multiple cameras

If an application needs multiple cameras, you can design it as multiple independent projects, each with its own camera, and then run the projects simultaneously. Typically, this is done when your application requires:

Different trigger rates.
Independent sub-inspections that use recipes (multiple independent projects can reduce recipe combinatorics).

In general, if you can easily configure an application to use several cameras, it is suitable to create multiple simple projects and run them simultaneously.

Note that you should use multiple cameras within one project when you have an application that: must run as fast as possible, requires timing consistency, uses the same conveyor, or uses the same trigger. For more information, see the Using multiple cameras section in Chapter 28: Acquisition, and the Matrox Design Assistant Readme.

Performance

The most optimal performance of all projects running simultaneously is typically achieved by the first project that starts, since Matrox Design Assistant locks some memory resources for that project (as is the case when running only one project). The maximum cycle time is generally not more than twice the average cycle time.

Projects that start after the first one do not have locked memory resources. Their cycle time can vary considerably, and depends on what else is running.

If you are developing a project that must absolutely be run as fast as possible, consider running it alone. For more information about optimizing your project's processing time, see the Optimizing loop time section in Chapter 59: Optimizing your runtime projects.