Machine vision requires software and drivers

1. NI LabVIEW

2. NI vision Developmentd Module (VDM) image processing function library

3. NI Vision Builder For Automation Inspection (VBAI) is a powerful visual application software developed based on VDM. You can use this software for direct and fast verification. You can also do some static and simple visual projects.

4. NI Vision Acquisition Software (VAS)

Note: If you use VB, VC, C# and other platforms for development, you only need to install VDM. If you do not need VBAI, you do not need to install it. If you do not call IMAQdx, etc., you do not need to install VAS. The simplest way is to install VDM. If you use labview for development, you need to install LV. If you want to use VBAI for verification, you need to install VBAI. If you also need a driver, you also need to install VAS.

VDM, VAS, and VBAI will all add functions and controls in labview.

Do the current versions of VDM and VBAI include VAS?

See the official Q&A:

What is the difference between VBAI, VAS and VDM?

Main software: 

Main software version: 7.1

Major software revisions: 

Secondary Software: Vision Builder for Automated Inspection

Problem: I am interested in the vision-related capabilities in NI software, but I am not sure which software product I should use. What is the difference between Vision Builder for Automated Inspection (VBAI), Vision Acquisition Software (VAS), and Vision Development Module?

Answer: Please refer to Products & Services: Vision Software to compare the performance differences of different products, or read the description of product features on the software packaging.

Vision Development Module

The module can be used as a plug-in for LabVIEW or the text editing environment .NET and LabWindows CVI.

This tool provides functions and features for using various image processing and recognition in the LabVIEW programming environment.

The included toolkit, Vision Assistant, is very similar to VBAI, but the visual recognition programs designed with it can be easily converted into LabVIEW code.

It is possible to run remote targets such as CVS (Compact Vision System), but this requires the use of LabVIEW RealTime in addition to LabVIEW.

Vision Builder for Automated Inspection

Often referred to as VBAI, this program is a standalone program. The programming and operation interface is similar to Vision Assistant, but the program cannot be converted to LabVIEW, only in its environment.

VBAI programs can be run on remote target devices such as CVS.

Vision Acquisition Software

A collection of drivers for capturing images. For example, version 8.2.3 of the software for Windows includes NI-IMAQ 3.7.1 and NI-IMAQdx 3.0.1 (which includes support for IEEE 1394 cameras), as well as the NI-IMAQ I/O 2.0.2 driver.

Contains the basic vision acquisition VIs used in LabVIEW. Functionality beyond basic vision image acquisition and file storage requires the installation of VDM.

Vision Acquisition Software is included with the Vision Development Module, Vision Builder for Automated Inspection, and all NI image acquisition software.

I tried it, and found that installing VDM alone still lacks some functions in VAS (in the labview function palette), so I decided to transfer all these software.

People often ask, what is the difference between VBAI and Vision Assistant, or which one is more powerful and easier to use? Let's explain the difference between the two.

The full name of VBAI is Vision Builder for Automation Inspection, and the official Chinese name of NI is Vision Builder for Automation Inspection. It can be understood as a powerful application developed by NI engineers using NI Vision Developments Module (Vision Development Kit VDM). Using VBAI, it can be directly used for project inspection without engineers having to spend too much time on building a program framework, implementing logical functions, etc. Therefore, many times, some simple projects can be completed in a few minutes using VBAI. The advantage of VBAI is that it can quickly detect some common visual projects without spending too much time and energy on programming, and it is relatively easy to get started. However, its disadvantages are also obvious. That is, its interface framework is fixed, and it is impossible to make too many modifications and edits. Currently, there is only an English version, and it is not convenient to make a Chinese version. The hardware it supports can generally only be NI hardware, or NI-certified hardware, or some hardware with standard communication protocols, which is relatively limited. For example, many domestic cameras, acquisition cards, and IO cards cannot be used in VBAI. Projects made by VBAI generally cannot integrate motion control. If there is motion control, you can only consider using PLC and then use communication to exchange data with PLC. Some other problems, such as data storage, can only be in TXT, CSV and other formats. In addition, VBAI script execution is sequential, and it cannot give full play to the parallel characteristics of LabVIEW, so its execution efficiency is relatively slow. VBAI can also generate code for development programs, but because of its own complexity (variable system, additional tools, etc.), the generated code is relatively complex, difficult to understand, and not very convenient to call. VBAI's encryption is also very simple and can only protect scripts. If you install VBAI for a customer, then if you want him to be able to modify the parameters, you have to tell him the password, which is not conducive to the protection of the software product.

​NI Vision Developments Module (VDM) is the integration of all NI's visual functions. All NI vision-related programs and software call functions in VDM, and VBAI also calls functions in VDM. After installing VDM, the Vision Assistant will be generated. Of course, the Vision Assistant itself is also an EXE application. Its implementation mode is very similar to VBAI, but it is not as powerful as VBAI in terms of function. It cannot perform real-time acquisition, processing, and judgment. Because its acquisition and analysis are separate, and there is no variable system, it cannot make specification judgments. It can only verify whether the feature is found and measure the data of the feature. But because it is relatively simple, the code it generates is much simpler and clearer. This is also the fundamental purpose of NI's visual assistant, which is to allow users to use the assistant to complete most of the visual functions, so there is no need to directly call the functions in VDM, so that VDM can be used more conveniently.

​VBAI is like a department manager, VDM is like a general manager. The general manager can basically do everything that a department manager can do. A visual assistant is the general manager's secretary. The secretary can help the general manager with some things, but not everything. If they could do everything, what would the general manager do?

DVBAI and Visual Assistant can only complete most of the functions in VDM, and some other special functions cannot be completed. Therefore, if you want to have a better and comprehensive development, of course, you should use a development platform such as LabVIEW to directly call the functions in VDM. At this time, if you are not very familiar with VDM, you can use Visual Assistant to generate code (LabVIEW, C, .NET) to facilitate the call of the development platform. If it is just for simple application and verification, you can use VBAI. If it is a relatively large commercial project, you must consider using a model such as LabVIEW+VDM to develop your own software, so that you can effectively protect your software products and prevent them from being copied by customers at will.