IDS and Prophesee intensify partnership

At the Embedded World conference in Nuremberg, IDS Imaging Development Systems GmbH (IDS), manufacturer of industrial cameras, and Prophesee SA, inventor of neuromorphic image processing systems, signed a letter of intent to jointly develop new industrial image processing systems based on event-based sensor technology. The collaboration combines Prophesee's expertise in event-based hardware and software with IDS's strengths in camera integration, multi-sensor design and industrial manufacturing. It will explore different technological directions and builds on the market launch of the 'IDS uEye EVS' cameras equipped with Prophesee's event-based sensor technology. The initiative is designed to harness the benefits of combining conventional imaging technologies with event-based sensing and open up new opportunities in machine vision, such as high-speed motion analysis and emerging sensor technologies. In parallel, the companies plan to intensify their commercial collaboration, align their business development activities more closely and jointly address selected customers with complementary solutions. IDS will supply the camera hardware and integrated systems, Prophesee sensors, development tools and event-based software.

"Neuromorphic sensor technology is the key to the future of industrial image processing. By working closely with Prophesee, we can advance this technology faster and more consistently," says Jan Hartmann, CEO of IDS.

"Our partnership with IDS demonstrates the level of performance that event-based sensor technology can enable in machine vision," says Jean Ferré, CEO of Prophesee. "Thanks to the open, flexible and accessible Metavision platform and recent enhancements to our sensor products, we can jointly develop new sensor architectures and next-generation vision systems that integrate event-based technology. This pushes the boundaries of what machine vision can do, enabling faster detection, higher accuracy and significantly better energy efficiency for demanding real-world applications."

The companies also plan to work closely with joint customers and partners to develop new machine vision solutions for areas such as automation, robotics, logistics, transportation and intelligent systems.