xiX wins Bronze at the VSD Innovators Awards 2021

Expert jury honors xiX cameras with detached sensor head

Münster, Germany – May 2021 – XIMEA's xiX detached sensor head cameras received a Bronze award in the Vision Systems Design 2021 Innovators Awards. The magazine announced all honorees on May 21, 2021, in a live webcast.

Key facts

Award: Vision Systems Design 2021 Innovators Awards, Bronze level
Announced: May 21, 2021, live webcast
Product: xiX detached sensor head cameras
Sensors: Sony Pregius S IMX530 (24 Mpix), IMX531 (20 Mpix), IMX532 (16 Mpix)
Interface: PCIe, 32 or 64 Gbit/s

Why the xiX camera has a detached sensor head

Fast image sensors need fast electronics, and fast electronics need space and produce heat. With Sony's fourth-generation Pregius S sensors, that would normally mean a bigger camera.

For the xiX, XIMEA chose the opposite approach and moved everything except the sensor into a separate body.

The sensor head measures 26.4 x 26.4 x 33 mm and has a C-mount. A flat ribbon micro-coax cable links it to the electronics, which can sit several meters away. Since the warm part of the camera is no longer next to the sensor, noise stays low without active cooling. Inside the XIMEA team, the camera goes by "Cobra", because head and cable look like a coiled snake.

Full Pregius S speed over PCIe

Data runs over PCIe at 32 or 64 Gbit/s. At 32 Gbit/s, the xiX reaches up to 150 fps at 16 Mpix, 110 fps at 20 Mpix and 105 fps at 24 Mpix.
Dual ADC on the sensor enables HDR images, and XIMEA's FPGA merges both channels into a linear response.

Speed and size together make the xiX-Xtreme a high-speed machine vision camera for installations with little space around the sensor.

How the Innovators Awards jury decides

Nine experts from system integrators, end-user companies and academia rated each entry. They looked at originality, the impact on designers, integrators and end users, unmet needs in the market, the use of new technology and productivity gains.
Depending on the score, honorees received Bronze, Silver, Gold or Platinum. 2021 was the seventh edition of the program. For XIMEA, it was the sixth Innovators Award since the program started in 2015.

Where the xiX is used

Typical applications include quality inspection, robotics, embedded vision, multi-camera systems for VR and volumetric capture, and aerial mapping. Wherever several cameras have to sit close together or there is little room around the sensor, the small head makes integration easier.

All models are listed on the xiX-Xtreme product page.

Technical background is in our knowledge base article on the detached sensor head concept.

For questions about cable lengths, sensor options or multi-camera setups, contact our team.

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