What We Do
We can undertake machine vision projects across a wide range of applications and industries. Our engineers are trained in all aspects of vision solutions. Below is just a sample of the types of applications we can assist with.
- Inspection of pre-manufactured objects (e.g. quality control, failure investigation)
- Short-run
unique object manufacture - Quality control and refinement of food products
- Visual stock control and management systems (counting, barcode reading, store interfaces for digital systems)
- Automotive (vehicle inspection, component inspection, robot guidance)
- Biometrics
- Semiconductor fabrication (inspection of wafers, chips & subcomponents)
- Large-scale industrial manufacture
- Safety systems in industrial environments
- Control of Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs)
- Automated monitoring of sites for security and safety
- Monitoring of agricultural production
- Retail automation
- Consumer equipment control
- Medical imaging processes
- Medical remote examination and procedures
A typical machine vision system will consist of several of the following components:
- One or more digital or analog camera (black-and-white or colour) with suitable optics for acquiring images
- Camera interface for digitizing images (often known as a "frame grabber")
- A processor (usually a PC or embedded processor)
- Often all of the above can be combined into a single device, called a smart camera.
- Input/Output hardware (e.g. digital I/O) or communication links (e.g. network connection or RS-232) to report results
- Lenses to focus the desired field of view onto the image sensor.
- Suitable specialized light sources (LED illuminators, fluorescent or halogen lamps etc.)
- Software to process images and detect relevant features.
- A synchronizing sensor for part detection to trigger image acquisition and processing.
- Some form of actuators used to sort, reject or manipulate parts.
