MVTec.HALCON.13.0 Major New Features of HALCON 13.0 Speedups Shape-based matching is now significantly faster. For example, speedups of more than 300% can be achieved on machines with AVX2-compatible processors when searching in byte images with a small number of pyramid levels. This speedup also affects all related technologies, i.e., shape-based 3D matching, local and perspective deformable matching, as well as component-based matching. Major Improvements in Identification Technologies HALCON now contains a new OCR classifier based on deep learning technology, which can be used via a number of pretrained fonts. With these, it is possible to achieve higher reading rates than with all previous classification methods. The automatic text reader is faster and now also supports reading of dot print characters. The bar code reader has been improved to read bar codes even if large parts of the code are not visible or contain defects. The QR code reader has been improved and is now much more robust against common challenges like blur or distortion. Easy-to-use Texture Inspection HALCON now offers an easy-to-use texture inspection, which is configured by simply passing some training images. The algorithm automatically adjusts the necessary parameters based on training images that show flawless texture. For this, the algorithm uses a Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) classification on multiple levels of an image pyramid. Enhancements of 3D Matching and 3D Reconstruction Surface-based 3D matching has been improved to be more robust when dealing with flat surfaces. This improvement particularly supports applications like picking of boxes. HALCON now also offers a new method to reconstruct 3D objects from multiple cameras with high quality. This new method uses the information of all camera views at once leading to more robust results than provided by common stereo reconstruction methods. HDevEngine Debugging HDevEngine applications can now be debugged directly within HDevelop by attaching it to the corresponding application process. This enables developers to inspect call stack and variable values while executing procedures step by step, making error tracking a lot easier. HDevelop can even be connected to an HDevEngine application running on a different computer for remote debugging. Compatibility Licenses All HALCON 12.0 licenses or licenses of earlier versions must be replaced or upgraded. Please contact your local distributor. Furthermore, please note the following compatibility issues related to licenses: In compliance with the EULA, HALCON now only supports MAC based licenses bound to universally administered, permanent MAC addresses. Locally administered MAC addresses are rejected. In case of a license upgrade for a MAC based license it might be necessary to request a new license if the former hostid is not suitable anymore. Additionally, FLEXid dongles for HALCON 12 and earlier versions do not work with HALCON 13 as HALCON 13 exclusively uses HALCON CodeMeter dongles. HALCON 13 licenses will be downwards compatible to HALCON 12.0.3