It was 15 years ago that IDS introduced the first industrial camera with USB interface to the market.

It was back in April 2004 when the first industrial camera with a USB interface from IDS Imaging Development Systems came onto the market.

The interface, which was already widely used in the consumer sector, was not considered suitable for industrial use at the time. However today, after 15 years, USB is firmly established in the industrial environment.

“Our decision to use USB was initially smirked at,” recalls company founder Jürgen Hartmann. “But we made the interface suitable for industrial use. USB is very strongly driven by the consumer market and therefore the ideal solution to develop cost effective yet powerful camera applications.”

Within one year, IDS had completed the transition from the development of analogue frame grabbers to digital industrial cameras. In the meantime, the interface, already in its third generation, has become an integral part of the market.

The product portfolio has expanded significantly compared to 2004. The product range now includes over 600 models with USB 2.0, 3.0 and 3.1 Gen1 interfaces. Currently, the vision app-based industrial cameras IDS NXT with artificial intelligence provide developments and additional benefits for their users.