Machine Vision Eyes a Healthy Tomorrow

Industrial machine vision Product Research - Machine vision continues to play a major role in automation and control as products offer better, more reliable performance, ease of use, and state-of-the-art features such as smart vision sensors. Investment in well-designed, carefully-planned systems remains strong, and the future points to increasing application of—and spending for—this important and growing technology.

By Jeanine Katzel, Control Engineering December 1, 2008
New research shows barcode applications again top the list of machine vision applications, mirroring the 2007 survey.

Machine vision continues to play a major role in automation and control as products offer better, more reliable performance, ease of use, and state-of-the-art features such as smart vision sensors. Investment in well-designed, carefully-planned systems remains strong, and the future points to increasing application of—and spending for—this important and growing technology.

These conclusions reflect the attitudes and opinions of some 135 subscribers who responded recently to an online study by Control Engineering ( www.controleng.com ) and Reed Research Group ( www.reedbusiness.com ) that queried them about machine vision product use and preferences. Results of this current survey support many trends identified in the previous study (May 2007), which showed increasing use of machine vision technologies and concerns about setup and installation. Key findings are shown here in the graphs, with more online.

Ease of use and performance continue to be the features respondents want most in their machine vision products, matching 2007 results. Increasing in importance since the last survey are ease of set-up (moving from fourth to third) and price (from sixth up to fourth). Technical supoort dropped to fifth (from third last time).

Machine vision system products

Control Engineering subscribers participating in this research identified, from a list provided, the vendors included here as leading suppliers of machine vision systems and related products. For more manufacturers and distributors, visit www.cesuppliersearch.com . Find system integrators at www.controleng.com/integrators .

Spending for machine vision products in the next 12 months is expected to increase or remain the same for 93% of all survey respondents.

Vision: Small, smart, easy

Small, smart, and easy are the words Cognex applies to its next-generation vision system. In-Sight Micro puts a complete vision system into a 30 x 30 x 60 mm package. The system is about the size of a remote-head camera, suitable for mounting in tight spaces on robots, production lines, and machinery. Flexible mounting capability with a non-linear calibration tool enables mounting at angles of up to 45 deg for hard-to-reach applications. Five new models—including a 2 MP unit—cover a range of price, performance, and resolution levels. Each system includes the Cognex vision tool library to handle a broad range of vision applications for many industries. www.cognex.com/micro Cognex Corp.

Lighting products for vision

Illumination products from Banner include configurations in five color options with an array of filters, diffusers, and mounting systems. Any may be added to the company’s PresencePlus vision sensors or other vision platform to improve inspection accuracy and reliability. Lighting helps vision sensors yield a high-contrast image to improve repeatability, reliability, and accuracy for a successful, high-speed inspection. www.bannerengineering.com Banner Engineering Corp.

Also see

  • CV-3000 vision system, Keyence Corp. ofAmerica www.visionsystem.com

  • NI 1744, NI 1762, NI 1764 smart cameras,National Instruments www.ni.com

  • Omron Electronics ZFX machine visionsensor www.omron247.com

  • Inspector Vision Sensor, Sick , www.sickusa.com

  • HawkEye 1600T camera, Microscan Systems www.microscan.com

  • Matrox Design Assistant 2.0 software fromMatrox Imaging www.matrox.com

  • Phantom Miro, Vision Research www.visionresearch.com ; www.ametek.com

  • Genie C1410 and M1410, GigEvision-compliant , Dalsa Corp. www.dalsa.com

  • Optical Character Verifier 2, SystechInternational www.systec-tips.com

  • 5 MP progressive scan camera, digitalinterface , Jai Inc. www.jai.com

  • Impact Software Suite, v. 8.0, PPT VisionInc . www.pptvision.com

  • CleverDragon, Toshiba Teli America www.toshiba-teli.com

  • Castell QuadCam 3D safety zone system www.castell.com

  • PV500-high speed vision, Panasonic Electric Works Corp. ofAmerica pewa.panasonic.com

ONLINE extra
Machine vision product research: Positive attitudes, outlooks, new products – Here find more 2008 machine vision research results and advice from survey takers. Also see the machine vision online resource guide, below.

Machine vision online resource guide

Links below contain application articles, tutorials, research, products, and system integrators related to machine vision.

Machine Vision Comes of Age

How should control engineers use machine vision?

On Track with Machine Vision for application examples

Machine Vision: Now is the Time (Product Research article, products)

Machine Vision Product Research May 2007 (Survey results in Resource Center; registration required)

Machine Vision: Not Just for Metrology Anymore (robotics applications)

Measure Up with Machine Vision (tricks and tips, references, setup hints)

Buyer’s guide search on machine vision

Automation Integrator Guide contains companies with machine vision expertise .
www.controleng.com/integrators

Latest Control Engineering products, news, articles on machine vision

Author Information
Jeanine Katzel is a consulting editor for Control Engineering. Contact her at jkatzel@sbcglobal.net .