Precise Color Measurement Meets Connected Automation: the Compact Color Analyzer
- Aug 13
- 3 min read
Color is a critical quality characteristic in many industrial production processes. Even minor deviations can indicate material changes, defective coatings, or fluctuations within the process.
To detect these deviations reliably, color measurement systems must do more than operate precisely. They must also integrate into automated production environments and provide measurement results within the available process time.
The Compact Color Analyzer (CCA) from PREMOSYS combines these requirements in a compact industrial color sensor.
Standardized Color Measurement Instead of Subjective Evaluation
The CCA measures colors in the XYZ, CIELAB, and CIELCh color spaces. Its spectral measurement range extends from 380 to 800 nm, covering the visible spectrum as well as adjacent wavelength ranges.
Using standardized color spaces allows colors to be described and compared objectively. Individual color differences can be defined as thresholds. Based on these thresholds, the sensor evaluates whether a measured color value falls within the specified tolerances and provides a corresponding OK or NOK result.
In addition to conventional color differences in the CIELAB and CIELCh color spaces, the system also supports CIEDE2000. This color-difference formula accounts for the fact that the human eye perceives changes in lightness, chroma, and hue with varying sensitivity.
Designed for Industrial Communication
For integration into automation environments, the CCA supports OPC UA and Modbus UDP/IP. Network connectivity is provided via Ethernet with 10Base-T or 100Base-T.
The integrated OPC UA server enables users to retrieve current measurement values and configure selected settings. These include:
· XYZ, CIELAB, and CIELCh values
· Temperature and sensor saturation
· Gain level
· Light-source power
The sensor can be powered via Power over Ethernet in accordance with IEEE 802.3af. This allows network communication and power to be provided through the same connection, reducing cabling requirements in suitable installations.
Alternatively, a combined power-supply and I/O interface is available. From firmware version 2.1.1 onward, measurements can also be triggered through an external input.
Balancing Measurement Stability and Speed
According to the user manual, a CCA measurement without averaging takes approximately 1.2 ms. For applications with higher stability and reproducibility requirements, multiple individual measurements can be averaged.
Averaging levels from 1 to 1024 are available. Increasing the level of averaging reduces noise and short-term fluctuations, but also increases the total measurement time. At the maximum averaging level, the total measurement time is approximately 1.23 seconds.
This allows the sensor parameters to be tailored to the specific application: fast responses for short process cycles or greater stability for particularly demanding measurement tasks.
Six manual gain levels and an automatic gain function provide further adaptation to different signal levels and environmental conditions.
Individual Configuration for Different Products
The CCA provides storage for 64 product profiles and 64 user calibrations. Each product profile can be assigned its own calibration.
This makes it possible to manage different products, materials, or measurement conditions using suitable target values, thresholds, and corrections for each application. Functions such as stray-light compensation and normalization further support reproducible results under defined measurement conditions.
A dedicated measurement-object detection mode can also determine whether an object is actually present within the valid measurement range. A result is only provided when the measured value falls within a previously defined detection threshold.
Color Measurement as Part of the Automated Quality Process
The Compact Color Analyzer combines standardized color measurement, configurable quality thresholds, and industrial communication in a single system.
This makes it suitable for automated inspection tasks in which colors must be evaluated reproducibly, results must be provided quickly, and measurement data must be transferred to higher-level systems.
The appropriate configuration depends on the specific application—from the optics and lighting conditions to the required measurement speed and repeatability.
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