IDS Imaging Development Systems GmbH has moved its Nion 3D time-of-flight camera into series production, making it available now through the company's webstore. Nion pairs a 1.2-megapixel indirect time-of-flight (iToF) sensor with real-time depth processing, aimed at what IDS calls "dynamic indoor and outdoor applications" where objects keep moving and lighting keeps changing.
The depth sensor is onsemi's AF0130, part of the Hyperlux ID family, and IDS says it delivers up to four times the spatial resolution of many ToF cameras built around VGA sensors. Depth data streams at 30 fps, with distance calculated indirectly from the phase shift of a modulated light signal rather than by timing individual light pulses. That method lets the sensor capture depth for every pixel at once, which is what makes the higher frame rate possible without smearing moving objects.
Engineers doing volume measurement or (de-)palletising will care about the motion handling specifically. Nion combines a global shutter, pixel-internal memory and a fast readout structure, and depth calculation happens directly in the sensor, in real time, with no latency and no external processing required.
The camera runs active laser illumination at 940 nm, matched to the AF0130's spectral sensitivity, so depth accuracy holds indoors under artificial light and outdoors in direct sunlight without changing setups. IDS rates the measuring range from 0.3 to 7.5 meters and houses the electronics in an IP67 enclosure. Integration runs through the IDS peak API and the GigE Vision standard, and the camera draws power over the same Ethernet cable via PoE, cutting cabling for logistics, automation and robotics installs.
Patrick Schick, product manager for 3D Vision and Imaging Software at IDS, said the camera "provides stable depth data even under variable lighting conditions," calling it "a solid foundation for automation processes that rely on fast and accurate 3D data." Schick added that existing 2D processes can often stay in place largely unchanged, with depth data layered in only where it helps a specific decision point on the line.
IDS is positioning Nion as a lower-cost entry point into 3D machine vision rather than a high-end metrology instrument, betting that shops already running 2D inspection will add depth data incrementally instead of replacing their setups outright. The company says inquiries were already coming in before series production started.
