Vision System with Swappable Camera Having an Alignment Indicator, and Methods of Making and Using the Same

A method of replacing a first swappable camera with a second swappable camera, the second swappable camera comprising a camera housing, a sensor array, and an alignment indicator storing alignment data representative of an array-housing alignment of the sensor array relative to a desired sensor array position within the camera housing, the sensor array is offset by at least one pixel from the desired sensor array position, the method comprising:

• removing the first swappable camera;
• positioning the second swappable camera with a location and orientation of the first swappable camera prior to the removing;
• determining a region of interest that is concentric with the desired sensor array position using the alignment data;
• and
• acquiring an image using only pixels of the sensor array that are located within the region-of-interest.

A method of making a swappable camera comprising a camera housing having a desired sensor array location, the method comprising:

• positioning a sensor array within the camera housing;
• measuring an alignment of the sensor array relative to the desired sensor array location;
• and
• recording the alignment as alignment data to an alignment indicator of the swappable camera,
• wherein positioning the sensor array within the camera housing is performed in a manufacturing process that positions the sensor array within the camera housing with a manufacturing variance of at least about 50 μm.