VisionLink RCX for Camera Link base (top) and VisionLink XF for base through 80-bit mode

2017/01/19: Last quarter, EDT expanded its VisionLink series for Camera Link with a new full-mode fiber extender. The VisionLink fiber extenders now include…

– VisionLink XF – Camera Link fiber extender for up to 80-bit mode; and

– VisionLink RCX – Camera Link fiber extender for base mode only.

Both versions replace electrical cabling with fiber, enabling your applications to exceed the limits of Camera Link. Depending on the fiber-optic transceivers used, the camera can be tens, hundreds, or thousands of meters from the host computer.

The fiber also provides electrical isolation between the camera and the computer.

VisionLink-series extenders are compatible with all EDT frame grabbers, as well as with third-party frame grabbers. In addition, the VisionLink RCX is compatible with the original EDT RCX C-Link fiber extender.

2016/12/01: EDT has moved to a new location. Only our physical address has changed; all other contact information remains the same.

Our new building, just about one mile from our previous location, offers more space for expansion and has facilities designed specifically to meet our expanding manufacturing and development requirements.

Our new address is:
3423 NW John Olsen Place
Hillsboro, OR 97124 USA

2016/09/21: EDT announces its new Camera Link fiber-optic extender, VisionLink XF, for base through 80-bit mode. The new extender, like the recently-released VisionLink RCX for base mode only, supports 20-85 MHz and transfers real-time image data to a host computer over distances of tens to thousands of meters.

The new VisionLink XF improves on our previous full-mode solution by supporting up to 85 MHz via two extenders and one duplex fiberoptic cable.

Like all EDT extenders, the VisionLink XF supports triggering / serial via Camera Link or externally via an optional Lemo connector. The extenders work in pairs, joined by fiberoptic cabling: one extender connects to the camera and the other to an EDT or third-party frame grabber, forming a fiber-optic extension system.

All EDT fiber extension products allow Camera Link cabling to be replaced with fiber-optic, enabling remote operation and providing electrical isolation of the camera from the host computer.

Simulation of merging black holes radiating gravitational waves (source: LIGO, via Wikimedia).

2016/02/11: Big news! EDT products are involved in the exciting announcement that Caltech’s Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) has detected gravitational waves for the first time. Predicted by Albert Einstein 100 years ago, gravitational waves are cosmic ripples which distort space-time itself.

The LIGO project uses EDT frame grabbers and fiber extenders / converters, as diagrammed and described in a 2015 LIGO paper. LIGO’s Hartmann Sensor Control System incorporates a 1-megapixel CCD camera outputting 11-bit data at 60 Hz. The resulting 120 MBytes/sec data stream is transferred over the 100-meter distance via an EDT RCX Camera Link fiber-optic extension system, and into the memory of the receiving Linux computer via an EDT PCI Express Camera Link frame grabber.

LIGO’s Cognizant Scientist for Thermal Compensation Aidan Brooks stated: “We’re absolutely thrilled with the discovery and the public reaction. The EDT Camera Link frame grabbers and fiber converters were actively used as part of the high-precision wavefront sensors in the LIGO adaptive optics that we call our Thermal Compensation System.”’

EDT is excited and honored to be a part of this stunning discovery. For details, explore the links below.

LIGO-RELEASED INFORMATION
Press release (webpage): https://www.ligo.caltech.edu/news/ligo20160211
Press release (PDF): https://www.ligo.org/news/detection-press-release.pdf
Press conference (video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEPIwEJmZyE
Paper: https://dcc.ligo.org/public/0010/T1000155/015/T1000155-v15.pdf

REPORTS FROM SCIENCE-FOCUSED NEWS OUTLETS*
Nature (with video): https://www.nature.com/news/einstein-s-gravitational-waves-found-at-last-1.19361
Science: https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/02/we-did-it-voices-gravitational-wave-press-conference
Science Alert: https://www.sciencealert.com/live-update-big-gravitational-wave-announcement-is-happening-right-now
Scientific American: https://www.scientificamerican.com/report/the-discovery-of-gravitational-waves/
Space: https://www.space.com/31900-gravitational-waves-discovery-ligo.html

REPORTS FROM MAINSTREAM NEWS OUTLETS*
BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-35524440
New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/12/science/ligo-gravitational-waves-black-holes-einstein.html
Los Angeles Times: https://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-gravitational-waves-how-to-20160211-story.html

* These links are just a tiny sampling of the extensive coverage of this discovery by major news outlets around the world. More coverage is readily available from multiple independent news sources.