What is LightBridge 2 VCL?

LightBridge 2 VCL is a stand-alone Camera Link frame grabber. It combines the functionality of a traditional frame grabber with programmable image processing capabilities and the high flexibility of an external device.

For connection to the host PC, LightBridge 2 VCL offers the Thunderbolt™ 2 technology1 (PCIe interface).

LightBridge 2 VCL being connected to one or more cameras and to the PC

 

Native Thunderbolt™ Technology Support Required

 

For using LightBridge 2 VCL, the motherboard of your host PC must support Thunderbolt™ technology.

A list of PCs, mainboards and laptops that support Thunderbolt™ technology and provide a Thunderbolt™ port, you find at this link: Thunderbolt technology compatibles.

Alternatively, don’t hesitate to contact the Basler Support team for information.

LightBridge 2 VCL supports Power over Camera Link (PoCL SafePower 4W/12V per port). DetailsClosedDepending on the applets you are running on the board, you may need to enable the PoCL support via microDiagnostics. The automatic PoCL detection is disabled per default on LightBridge 2 VCL when running standard applets version 2.0 or higher, or when running individual applets created with VisualApplets version 3.0.6 or higher. When you use PoCL cameras together with such applets, you need to enable automatic PoCL detection. This is possible in microDiagnostics (runtime version 5.5.1 or higher). For details, see Enabling PoCL Support.

Image Processing

In addition to the image acquisition and image processing functions that are included in the delivery, LightBridge 2 VCL can be programmed to fulfill highly specific image processing tasks that are required by a specific application. The programming can be done by Silicon Software / a certified partner, or by yourself using the easy-to-use graphical FPGA programming environment VisualApplets©.

Production Line

Using LightBridge 2 VCL, the PC can be located in a protected area, away from the actual manufacturing plant. With Thunderbolt™ cables (optical variant), distances of up to 60 m are possible.

Disturbance-free, highly flexible optical Thunderbolt™ cables allow for long distances

For integration into the production line, LightBridge 2 VCL offers multiple general purpose inputs and outputs for PLC and multi-board synchronization. 12 of the GPIOs are opto-decoupled.

This allows for

LightBridge 2 VCL within the production line (example)

Communication between camera and LightBridge 2 VCL is realized via four CC signals per Camera Link cable.

Software Programming and Configuration Interface

LightBridge 2 VCL offers an easy-to-use Software Development Kit, the standard Silicon Software SDK. The SDK allows for easy integration into any image processing software. You can use the SDK writing in

For details on the SDK programming interface, see section SDK Online Documentation on the Silicon Software documentation site.