Welcome to OV Spark

OV Spark is Overview AI's compact, all-in-one agentic industrial inspection camera: a global shutter sensor, smart focus and lighting, a 12 TOPS AI engine and Sparky, an edge copilot, in an IP66 housing. The whole inspection runs on the camera, with no PC in the cabinet.

Start here

Work through the steps below in order. Each page ends with a Continue button that takes you to the next one, so you can follow the path without coming back here.

Set up the hardwareGet a camera on the network that you can access.

1. 1
   Install the camera

   Mount it, wire power and I/O, and confirm the status LEDs.

   You need: Camera, bracket, 24 V supply or PoE adapter, M12 cable for I/O (not required if using the PoE adapter)
2. 2
   Connect to the interface

   Get the camera onto your network and open it in a browser.

   You need: A laptop on the same network
3. 3
   Tour the interface

   Learn where recipes, production screens and settings live.

Build a recipeThe recipe is created in six simple steps, as shown below.

1. 4
   Create the recipe

   Create a new recipe by following the six steps below, in the order shown.

   You need: Real parts (including bad ones), external lighting (optional)
2. 5
   Step 1: Imaging

   Get a sharp, evenly lit image.

3. 6
   Step 2: Triggering

   Choose a method that triggers the camera capture.

4. 7
   Step 3a: Set up alignment tool

   Add it as the first tool for the AI to dynamically track the part. Skip only if a fixture holds the part identically every cycle.

5. 8
   Step 3b: Choose your checks

   Choose a tool for your inspection. Ask Sparky if you need help choosing one.

6. 9
   Step 4: Judgment

   Decide how tool results become a global pass or fail.

7. 10
   Step 5: Outputs

   Decide the output data flowing to the PLC and the camera's output pins.

8. 11
   Step 6: Finish up

   Clear the blockers, read the summary, and activate the recipe.

Deploy it on the lineCommission the camera on your PLC.

1. 12
   Connect to your PLC

   Map outputs to EtherNet/IP or PROFINET.

   You need: PLC access, and your controls engineer

Run itHand it to the people who will use it every shift.

1. 13
   Go live on the HMI

   Build the screen your operators watch.

That is 13 steps to a running inspection. After that, Library is where you review the images captured by the camera, and Troubleshooting is where to start when the line misbehaves. Not sure of a term? The Glossary has them all.

Firmware version

These pages describe OV Spark firmware 2026.9.29. Check yours in the top bar of the camera's interface, or in Software Update.

OV Spark or OV Spark Pro?

These pages are for OV Spark (1280 x 960). If the name at the top left of your camera's interface says OV Spark Pro, use the OV Spark Pro docs instead. The specifications compare the two.

What is different about OV Spark

If you have used an OV10i, OV20i, or OV80i, the concepts carry over: you build a recipe, the camera captures on a trigger, an AI model makes a judgment, and the result goes out over digital I/O or a fieldbus. What changes here:

Area	What is new
Smart focus and lighting	Closed-loop autofocus set in software, not by turning a ring, and Smart imaging, which picks focus, exposure and lighting for you. 8 programmable white LEDs are built in, so most applications need no external light
Optics	The same range as the rest of the family: 6 mm as standard, with 12, 16 and 25 mm lenses fitted by Overview before the camera ships
Sensor	Global shutter colour sensor capturing at 1280 x 960, so moving parts stay sharp
Power	The same 24 VDC supply as the rest of the range, now also Power over Ethernet through the Overview adapter
Environment	IP66, the most sealed housing in the range, for washdown-adjacent and dusty lines
AI	12 TOPS on-device, with our edge copilot Sparky (cloud optional), and Defect Studio built into the interface via the cloud

How the interface is organised

Five areas, on the left-hand side panel, mirror how a line actually gets built and run:

Area	What it holds	Use it when
Inspection	All Recipes, Recipe Editor	Building and validating an inspection
In Production	HMI, Library	Running the line and reviewing captured images
Integration	Industrial Ethernet, Remote Storage, HTTP API, I/O Live Monitor, Diagnostic Logs	Wiring the camera into a PLC, MES or file server
Settings	Audit Logs, Users and Permissions, System Settings, Software Update	Administering the device
Agentic Tools	Sparky, Defect Studio	Getting AI help to build a recipe or generate defect samples

The waterfall still applies

As on every Overview camera, imaging comes first. If you change focus, exposure or lighting after capturing training images, you will need to recapture and retrain. Get the image right before you build the rest of the recipe.

When you need help

• Troubleshooting: start from what you are seeing and land on the likely cause
• Glossary: every term these pages and the camera use, in plain words
• Worked example: one real inspection built from start to finish

Reference

You do not need these to get started, but they are where the numbers live.

• Technical specifications: sensor, processor, power, environment, field of view
• Pinouts: the M12 12-pin connector, wire colours, and the input and output circuits
• Power over Ethernet: running the camera on a single cable
• PLC handshakes: the trigger, results and recipe switch sequences, for your controls engineer