Vision Lighting Compatibility with Cognex Cameras
Cognex In-Sight and DataMan cameras drive their trigger and strobe signals through software-configurable, opto-isolated digital I/O. Click a camera series below to see its I/O type, voltage, and exactly how to wire it to our lighting.
Hover or click a camera series to see its I/O type and how to wire it to the light.
Synchronizing Trigger and Exposure
On every Cognex camera, each digital output can be individually assigned in In-Sight Explorer (or the DataMan Setup Tool) to a specific signal — Acquisition Trigger, Strobe, Pass/Fail, Good Read, and more — and each output's polarity can be set independently to Active High (PNP/sourcing) or Active Low (NPN/sinking).
The most common integration mistake isn't a wiring error at all: it's reusing an output that's already assigned to Pass/Fail or Good Read signaling to also drive the light. Whenever another event toggles that output, the light fires an unplanned strobe — wasting LED lifetime and, on fast lines, washing out the very frame the camera is trying to capture. Always dedicate a single output exclusively to the strobe signal.
Cable routing warning
Keep the trigger/strobe cable short and shielded, especially when it runs alongside VFD or servo drive cabling. A long, unshielded run between the camera's output and the light's Pin 4 picks up electrical noise that can cause false triggers or jitter in the strobe timing — tie the cable shield to Pin 5 (FE) at the lighting end, not to the camera's signal ground.
Ask Our Wiring Team
Tell us about your camera, controller or trigger setup and one of our engineers will help you wire it correctly.