Summary
In this tutorial, we explain where to find programming examples and technical documentation for Heliotis Gen4 devices after installing C4Utility. You will learn which examples can be installed locally and what information is provided by the Programmer Guides, Feature Description, Technical Notes, and the Changelog.
Programming Examples and Documentation
In addition to the communication interfaces, C4Utility includes programming examples and extensive technical documentation. These provide a solid starting point for integrating Heliotis Gen4 devices into your own applications.
1. Finding Programming Examples
Open the C4Utility installation directory (C:\Program Files\C4Utility). Depending on the components selected during installation, you will find examples for various programming and machine vision environments, including HALCON, Python, CVB, NeuroCheck, Matrox Imaging Library, and Adaptive Vision Studio (C:\Program Files\C4Utility\examples).
The examples demonstrate typical workflows such as establishing a connection to the device, configuring key parameters, triggering a measurement, and transferring the resulting 3D data.
For applications based on the C4Handler Library, additional examples and documentation for the supported interfaces and programming environments are available (C:\Program Files\C4Utility\c4hdl\win64-x64).
2. Feature Description
The locally installed Feature Description serves as the reference for device functions and parameters available via the software interface (C:\Program Files\C4Utility\doc\ftrDesc.pdf).
For features such as Scan Position, you will find information regarding data type, value range, unit, access mode, and potential dependencies on other features or selectors.
3. Technical Notes and Changelog
The Technical Notes cover specific technical topics and integration details, such as data scaling, offsets, or specific device configurations (C:\Program Files\C4Utility\doc\Technical_Notes\pdf\).
The Changelog documents changes between individual software versions. It is particularly helpful when updating an existing application to a new C4Utility version or when checking when a function was added or modified (C:\Program Files\C4Utility\doc\changelog.pdf).
4. Programmer Guides
Additional programming documentation can be found on the Heliotis website under Support → Downloads → Documentation.
In the Gen4 SDK section, Programmer Guides are available for the supported programming environments and interfaces. They describe, among other things, how to establish a connection, configure the device, control data acquisition, trigger a measurement, and read out the measurement data.
Next Step
In Part 3 – Capturing 3D Data with HALCON, we use a specific HALCON example to show the complete process from connecting to a Heliotis Gen4 device to capturing and displaying 3D data.
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