FireWire Cameras

FireWire (IEEE 1394) is a personal computer serial interface bus standard offering high-speed communications and isochronous real time data services. Offering "plug and play" capability between the camera and the host computer eliminates the need for expensive cabling and a framegrabber. Cable lengths are limited to 4.5 meters. However, cables up to 10 meters can be used with careful attention to cable quality and environmental concerns such as noise. Peer-to-peer device communication and high-sustained data transfer data rates makes Firewire a viable interface for demanding machine vision applications. Hot swapping capability reduces maintenance down time and eliminates the need for computer reboot when replacing cameras during test or integration.