For tracking purposes, in an industrial environment with older machines, I need to implement material tracking. We're considering batch tracking (with a 1D barcode scanner at the beginning and end of each production line) or individual workpiece tracking (maybe with an IP camera that reads the workpieces DMC/QR codes).
Now, I have few experience with industrial IP cameras, mostly Keyence SR-1000, and while they're really good, they're also extremely expensive (about 1600€ cost per unit) if we need to add two of them on each production line.
Another option was to use an ESP32 or an arduino with some QR/DMC reader kit, but they present some challenges in industrial environments (operating voltage, connectivity) and I'm not really familiar with them, so that would be an additional challenge.
In the end, whatever the camera I use, it needs to be accessible by Node-Red (or report to it via MQTT or whatever means necessary), so I can insert the data into my Database.
was installed which was a lot cheaper (~200eur few years ago). We used this scanner as TextInput device.
We had PHP application which would always focus to input field and after 1D barcode was read it would enter data into the field and this PHP application would send data to nodered.
With new dashboard2 capabilities I think it would be possible to implement this solely in Nodered.
This scanner doesn't have wide reading range but it worked for our application because all barcodes were passing slowly and at the same position so cannot comment much on performance
I have to track datamatrix codes that are roughly 8x8mm in size. I need a decent field of view because some processes shift the material a bit or they are fed by hand, so the placement can vary by a few cm tolerance.
In addition to that, the idea was to have IP cameras (not USB) triggered by a sensor in the process line (we could use a relay for the trigger input) and report the number back to the Node-Red server (which runs in a VM), or have Node-Red poll all the cameras by using websockets or an HTTP request.
Note: I have no XP in this area, but still maybe a serial camera specific to the job?
You can trigger the connection at a certain way point of the production line, and kill after a read?
Node-Red is running on a VM inside our server cluster (IT area in the office building). All the machines and production lines we need to control are spread around 6 manufacturing plants around the factory (plus another one which is the one I am currently monitoring that has newer machines and served as a proof of concept).
Most production lines are hostile environments (acidic, electrically charged), so normal, out-of-the shelf raspberry pi are not enough. Industrial-grade Raspberry Pi or arduinos are in the 400-600€ range, plus the cost of the serial camera, and need module programming.
With a Pi-based industrial PLC I could program in Node-Red directly and use it to send the messages via MQTT or write straight to the DB, but I would still need the camera. Lines are often 25+ metres long and we'd probably need two Pis (one per camera) to monitor input and output, because 25 metres long serial cables are not going to cut it.
So it's probably better to get IP cameras and do the monitoring from a single instance of Node-Red running on the VM.
It's an interesting option, thanks. I'll keep it in mind.
I'm currently thinking about "repurposing" some redundant Keyence cameras in my plant that we don't actually need (I have three I never use, because I get the DMC from the laser marker that writes it, in the same machine, the camera there was for confirmation but it's always turned off). With this I'd already save a few thousand €.
Another option that I didn't think about straight away but I'm seriously considering is to look for suppliers of second-hand refurbished Keyence cameras, I've seen they go around at about half price, and they still offer at least 1 year warranty anyway.
The other possibility is to do batch tracking instead of panel tracking in the few machines that are currently not connected to the network but use Siemens S7 PLCs and can use a normal barcode scanner to monitor the order sheet. The S7 nodes in Node-Red work like a charm and are really fast to setup. This may allow me to have rough tracking data while saving a few cameras, therefore reducing the amount required.
I don't know about other models, but the SR-1000 can be setup from the camera directly (no laptop required) in under 5 minutes. Of course, a laptop allows much more fine-tuning, and sometimes it can be difficult to do so (I've had ample experience with the SR-1000 and we're not even using half of their capabilities).
