Machine Vision

We live in a time where more and more we reply on technology. As you read this, you may in fact be working from home, remotely, on a PC, Tablet or even your phone. This would have been unheard of a few years ago, but in the modern world, it’s a reality! As we look forward, living as we do in the COVID-19 world, we’ll probably find we’re going to be relying on technology even more, at home and at work.

How can this affect our work place though? More specifically, how could it affect the production environment? Has technology got to the point where it can effectively be deployed in the production environment, as an equal to a human operator, with his seemingly superior hand-eye coordination? Indeed it has!

Machine-vision technology, which a few years ago, was still in it’s infancy, has come along in leaps and bounds in the last while and applications that may have seemed ‘beyond’ the technology a few years ago, are mostly all possible now!

What can Machine Vision be used for? How can it be implemented? Who should you partner with to effectively deploy a Machine Vision application within your production environment?

What can Machine Vision be used for?

Essentially, Machine Vision is the effective implementation of an image capturing device or camera for processing and analysis within an automated inspection or process control environment. This can be achieved for quite a number of interesting applications within the production environment including:

·        Colour detection

·        Object/pattern recognition

·        Fault/defect detection

·        Volume calculations

·        Robotic guidance

This can be accomplished in a number of different environments and industries, such the automotive industry, to check part and sub-assembly quality as well as finished product quality, the food and beverage and pharmaceutical industries to ensure volumetric and quality compliance and even within existing robotic lines in order to improve accuracy or to provide quality checks that might otherwise have taken the valuable time of staff on the shop-floor.

How can it be implemented?

Best implementation practice varies according to the type of required application. Budget and desired result also play a vital role!

2D Smart cameras offer a cost effective solution with quick installation and programing, a wide range of off-the-shelf options and can provide a stand-alone solution with all information being processed by an on-board processing chip.

2D PC Software options are adaptable, customisable, flexible and can contain a sophisticated data gathering framework.

3D cameras can pick up the flack in areas where 2D cameras are insufficient and can generate a complete 3D model as well as a point cloud for analysis.

It all boils down to what specific requirements and results your application may need!

Who should you partner with to effectively deploy a Machine Vision application?

S4, a locally based industrial automation solutions company, with branches throughout the country, have over 25 years of experience on both the local and international market, making them the perfect partner to tailor a superior machine vision, turnkey solution!

S4 provide a full range of off-the-shelf vision products as well as custom solutions which are geared for all areas of image processing and optical quality control. S4’s solutions comply with Industry 4.0 and strive to improve quality, flexibility and efficiency!