FAQs: Maintenance

Calibration Test card

Every Perceptor IoT kit for the Zebra ZT610 and ZT620 comes with a standard Calibration Test card which includes Ronchi ruling bars and greyscale reflectants. Each card is manufactured to very precise tolerances and then measured so that the measured parameter values of the test card can be compared to those of Perceptor IoT.

The Calibration Test card provided with your Perceptor IoT hardware kit is produced by Applied Image and serves as a primary reference standard, with a traceability chain to national standards for all verifiers calibrated:

• ISO/IEC 15416 and ISO/IEC 15426-1

• or ISO/IEC 15415 and ISO/IEC 15426-2

• Traceable to NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology)

• or another National Metrology Institute

Certified Calibration Test card

For highly regulated industry sectors, the option to upgrade to a Certified Calibration Test card is available for both ZT610 and ZT620. Each certified card is serialized and is supplied with an ANAB Calibration Certificate and a Calibration Data report.

Further reading: Bespoke Conformance Calibration Test Cards for Real-Time Label Inspection

Follow these steps to prepare for calibration of the ZT600 printers with the calibration card.

Printer set up

1. Go to the Tear line offset menu on the printer touch panel. Using the toggle on the printer,  move the gap position to the new tear bar position.

NB for a 600dpi printer this will be about 740. For a 300dpi this will be 370. These values are dots.

2. Set the Head 'close and power up' action to Calibrate. 

This is to ensure that the printer always has the correct label length set. Perceptor uses this gauge the label length. By forcing this setting, when the operator changes the media, Perceptor can be sure it has the correct label length.

This completes the printer set up.

Perceptor set up

1. On the Perceptor touchscreen, click the top left hand cog to go to the Settings options.

2. Check that Perceptor is enabled: go to Printer settings > scroll to the bottom > if Perceptor is already enabled, it will say Disable.

3. Go to Acquisition settings. Select the top option to run the calibration routing. Follow the prompts on screen for guidance when and how to insert the calibration card.

4. When the black screen appears, click on the top right icon to run the calibration.

5. When it is complete, click the ✅ icon to save the calibration.

The calibration routine completed with the date/time saved to the database.

NB The default reminder is set to 90 days for the Operator to run the process again. This value can be changed to any value up to a maximum of 90 days.

Camera alignment

1. Click back to go to the four options in the Acquisition settings. Select the Acquisition offset calibration routine.

This routine is used to align the camera trigger to the label start position.

2. When you have a black image on the screen send ONE label to print.

NB Nothing will print - this is correct behaviour.

3. Click on the rotating icon on the top left to allow the label to print.

After it has printed it will be backfed and overstriked and an image will appear on the screen.

4. Use the + and - to move the image up and down to position it so the top and bottom of the label are visible. Click on the ✅ to save the setting.

5. Return to the Home Screen.

You are now ready to run Perceptor.

For guidance on setting up a label template, setting up and running Perceptor etc, please visit the tutorials on our website: https://perceptor-inspection.com/tutorials 

NB When designing label templates we recommend using an external monitor. To switch between the touchscreen and a monitor, go to /Settings > scroll to the bottom > select Switch to full UI.

Access the camera using the thumb screws.

Use a branded, alcohol based lens cleaner and a non-abrasive cloth.

NB If the cleanser contains denatured alcohol (e.g methylated spirits), ensure there are no oil additives which will leave a residue on the lens.