Teledyne DALSA AxCIS

Key takeaways

• Combines surface inspection and dimensional measurement in one pass, removing the need for separate systems
• Scales from 400 mm to 1,500 mm scan width, in mono and RGB, within a single housing
• Reaches up to 120 kHz mono line speed, or 60 kHz per channel for RGB inspection
• Extends dynamic range for reflective materials through parallel on-chip HDR, without the usual speed penalty
• Eliminates pixel gaps at sensor boundaries through a staggered, factory-calibrated design accurate to ±14 µm
• Withstands long cable runs and electrically noisy environments via an EMI-immune CLHS fibre interface

What is a Contact Image Sensor?

A Contact Image Sensor integrates illumination, optics, and detector elements into a single compact housing, positioned close to the material surface at a working distance of 13.9 mm. 

This fixed geometry removes the variables introduced by external lenses, adjustable focus, and multi-camera stitching, producing a stable 1:1 image of the surface across the full scan width and enabling true positional measurement without additional calibration effort in the field.

The Components of a Contact Image Sensor

Staggered architecture: the engineering basis for true metrology

The core engineering decision behind the AxCIS is its staggered sensor arrangement. Conventional CIS designs place sensor dies end to end, leaving gaps at the boundaries where pixel values are interpolated rather than measured directly.

The AxCIS overlaps dies in an odd/even staggered layout instead, producing a continuous image with every pixel factory-calibrated to ±14 µm positional accuracy. This is what allows the AxCIS to function as a measurement instrument, not just a surface inspection imager.

Staggered quadlinear CMOS sensor design
Captures a single seamless colour image across the full scan width, eliminating blind spots and software stitching artefacts.

Integrated GRIN telecentric lens arrays
Maintains a perfectly perpendicular optical path and ensure true-to-scale images with minimal geometric distortion and near-constant magnification.

Ultra-compact, low-profile mechanical housing
Requires minimal vertical clearance above the web and easily fits into tight gaps between conveyor rollers.

Camera Link HS SFP+ fibre interface
Connects each module via a single fibre link, simplifying cable routing with full immunity to EMI over runs of up to 300 m. 

Modular 24V DC power architecture
Powers sensor and illumination together via a single cable per base-length unit, reducing control cabinet footprint and wiring failure points across the full scan width.

Independent multi-plane illumination control
Exposes and gains up to three strobed illumination planes independently, capturing a battery electrode's metallic and coated surfaces accurately in one pass.

IP60-rated dust protection
Protects the sensor and optics from airborne particulate in environments such as carbon fibre cutting, textile production, and battery dry rooms.

Field-replaceable LED illumination
Swaps illumination via USB-C connectors on site, avoiding sensor head replacement and reducing maintenance downtime.

Native dual-exposure hardware HDR mode
Captures dark defects and reflective glares simultaneously while maintaining full inspection speeds on highly specular materials. 

Battery electrode and pouch cell inspection

Battery electrode manufacturing requires simultaneous inspection of both the metallic current collector and the active coating material - materials with fundamentally different optical characteristics. The AxCIS 2-plane mode addresses this directly: each illumination plane is independently controlled for exposure and gain, allowing both surfaces to be imaged in a single pass without speed compromise. The ±14 µm metrology accuracy supports dimensional control of electrode dimensions, coating edge positions, and tab geometry.

Flat glass, steel, and carbon fibre inspection

For rigid or semi-rigid web materials where surface continuity and dimensional conformance are critical, the AxCIS provides the combination of high line speed (120 kHz mono) and traceable metrology that production-grade quality assurance requires. The fixed short working distance and stable telecentric optics minimise geometric distortion across the scan width - relevant for carbon fibre ply inspection, flat glass coating evaluation, and steel strip surface measurement.

Foil, film, and flexible packaging

In flexible packaging and thin film production, surface defects such as pinholes, coating voids, scratches, and print registration errors must be detected reliably at high web speeds. The AxCIS mono and colour variants at 300–900 dpi support bright-field inspection of plastic films, aluminium foil, and laminated packaging materials. IP60 protection is relevant in environments where cutting dust or film debris is present.

Print and electronics

For print inspection applications, the colour AxCIS variants (400–800 mm) provide simultaneous RGB imaging at up to 60 kHz per channel, supporting both colour accuracy verification and defect detection on paper, cardboard, and coated substrates. In PCB and semiconductor substrate inspection, the coaxial lighting option supports imaging of specular surfaces where standard diffuse illumination would create reflective artefacts.

STEMMER IMAGING - from component to ready-to-run system

STEMMER IMAGING supports AxCIS deployment at every stage, from initial feasibility assessment through to commissioning and ongoing technical support, drawing on expertise across lighting, frame grabbers, software, and application-specific configuration.

What makes the AxCIS different from a conventional multi-camera line scan system?

A conventional multi-camera system requires mechanical alignment of multiple camera heads, careful management of overlapping fields of view, and image stitching software to produce a seamless full-width image. The AxCIS places all sensor dies within a single housing at a fixed 13.9 mm working distance, removing the alignment and stitching complexity.

What is a Contact Image Sensor, and when is it the right choice?

A Contact Image Sensor integrates illumination, optics (a Selfoc Lens Array using GRIN technology), and detector elements in a single compact housing positioned very close to the material surface. The fixed short working distance - 13.9 mm in the AxCIS - produces a stable, consistent optical geometry without the need for external lenses or adjustable focus. CIS technology is well-suited to flat or near-flat web materials moving at constant height, and less suited to surfaces with significant height variation beyond the ±0.6 mm depth of field.

How does the AxCIS achieve metrology capability when most contact image sensors do not support it?

Most CIS products use a butted sensor arrangement, where sensor dies are placed end-to-end. At die boundaries, gaps of 10–35 µm result in missing pixels that must be interpolated, eliminating any possibility of dimensional measurement at those positions. The Teledyne DALSA AxCIS uses a staggered arrangement in which the odd and even sensor rows overlap in the X-axis, eliminating pixel gaps. Combined with factory calibration of each boundary position against a high-resolution reference, the result is a continuous, uninterrupted image with ±14 µm positional accuracy across the full scan width.

What software is compatible with the AxCIS?

The AxCIS uses the CLHS interface with GenTL support, making it compatible with any GenTL-compliant acquisition framework. STEMMER IMAGING's CVB (Common Vision Blox) supports GenTL acquisition natively, and the Teledyne DALSA Xtium2 CLHS FX8 frame grabber is recommended for single and multi-module configurations. Sapera LT is also supported for Teledyne-native workflows. For applications requiring machine learning-based defect classification, CVB's integrated machine learning tools can be combined with the AxCIS acquisition pipeline.

What lighting options are available, and how do I choose between them?

The AxCIS supports three lighting configurations. Integrated AxCIS LEDs provide diffuse illumination suited to matt surfaces such as paper, textile, leather, plastic film, and foil - bright-field and limited dark-field variants are available via an optional mounting bracket.

External third-party lighting connects via the AxCIS strobe control interface, supporting up to three independent illumination planes, and is suited to applications requiring angled bright-field or dark-field illumination on metals, embossed surfaces, and film. Coaxial lighting - available from CCS - is appropriate for specular surfaces including wafers, glass, PCBs, and metal substrates.

STEMMER IMAGING's Engineering Services team can support lighting selection and validation as part of a feasibility assessment.

How does the AxCIS handle materials with both reflective and absorptive areas, such as battery electrodes?

The AxCIS 2-plane mode assigns independent exposure time and gain settings to each illumination plane. For a battery pouch cell, Plane 1 can be configured for the metallic current collector and Plane 2 for the active coating, allowing both to be imaged simultaneously in a single pass without speed compromise. The on-chip parallel HDR mode further extends dynamic range within each plane by running both exposures concurrently rather than splitting the available line time sequentially.

What frame grabber hardware is required, and what are the cabling constraints?

The Teledyne DALSA Xtium2 CLHS FX8 is the recommended frame grabber. One card supports up to four 400 mm AxCIS modules, each connected via a separate SFP+ fibre-optic link. Fibre cables can run up to 300 m, providing significant flexibility in system layout and eliminating EMI sensitivity across the cable run. Power (24 V DC) and GPIO signals are carried over a separate single cable per 400 mm base-length unit.

Can STEMMER IMAGING support the evaluation and commissioning of an AxCIS system?

Yes. STEMMER IMAGING's Technical Competence Centre can provide structured feasibility testing against specific material samples and defect types, lighting validation, frame grabber configuration, and CVB-based image acquisition pipeline development.

For OEM machine builders, the Special Solutions & Applications team supports collaborative development of validated subsystem specifications from initial requirements through to series-ready design. Contact STEMMER IMAGING to discuss the scope of support relevant to your project.