​​How Are Vision Sensors Different from Vision Systems?​

​​Vision sensors and vision systems are both designed to perform highly-detailed tasks on high-speed production lines. Vision sensors are similar to machine vision systems in their:

• ​Powerful vision algorithms
• ​Self-contained and industrial-grade hardware
• ​High-speed image acquisition and processing 

​Selecting a vision sensor

​Vision sensors are distinguished by their ease-of-use and quick deployment. Vision sensors lack sophisticated vision tools available on standalone machine vision systems but can perform a great number of vision tasks in factory automation and logistics environments. Vision sensors are more affordable than machine vision systems and require less expertise to run.  

​Machine vision systems perform:

• ​Guidance and alignment
• ​Optical character recognition
• ​Code reading
• ​Gauging and metrology

​By contrast, vision sensors are purpose-built to:

• ​Determine the presence/absence of parts
• ​Generate simple pass/fail results