Neuchâtel/Lausanne, May 28, 2014 - CSEM and Lausanne-based company BOBST, the world's leading supplier of machinery to the packaging industry, have developed a unique ultra-high-speed vision sensor that meets the needs for the inspection and alignment of packages traveling at very rapid speeds.

Since accuracy and reliability are indispensable to the achievement of perfect guiding and positioning when printing and shaping packaging, BOBST called on CSEM's expertise to develop a CMOS vision system able to capture and simultaneously respond to movements at ultra-high speeds. This joint development was supported by the Commission for Technology and Innovation (CTI).

The key advantage of this vision system its ability to capture an accurate image of components that are moving extremely fast. It contains a miniaturized optical sensor that is able to capture color images in a flash (800,000 lines per second), even in difficult environments. Such a sensor is perfectly adapted to the very strong white LED lighting that is in widespread use in numerous industrial applications. The length of exposure can be programmed separately for each color to correct the spectral balance of the whiteness of the LED lighting and so improve read performance.

CSEM CEO Mario El-Khoury explains that "Supporting innovation in Swiss industry to keep manufacturing and jobs in our country is written into our very DNA. The success of our collaboration with BOBST to develop an ultra-high-performance vision sensor is just one example of this." He adds with satisfaction that "We are proud of what we have accomplished, and we are supporting BOBST as it strives to unlock new business opportunities."

This device will be marketed by BOBST. It is suitable for multiple applications, such as the monitoring of industrial processes at high speeds, high-performance color differentiation, surface inspection, and other industrial applications requiring high-speed optical inspection.