September 20198 MANUFACTURINGTECHNOLOGYINSIGHTSThe role of Machine Vision in manufacturingBy Mark Williamson, Managing Director, STEMMER IMAGINGMachine vision already makes an important contribution to the manufacturing sector, primarily by providing automated inspection capabilities as part of QC procedures. However, the world of automation is becoming increasingly complex. Industry 4.0, the Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing, artificial intelligence, machine learning and many other technologies present users and developers of vision systems with big challenges in the selection of the ideal system for their respective application.An Enabling TechnologyWith rapid developments in many different areas including imaging techniques; CMOS sensors; embedded vision; machine and deep learning; robot interfaces; data transmission standards and image processing capabilities, vision technology can benefit manufacturing industry at many different levels. New imaging techniques have provided new application opportunities. For example hyperspectral imaging can provide information about the chemical composition of the materials being imaged. Computational imaging allows a series of images to be combined in different ways to reveal details that can't be seen using conventional imaging techniques. Polarisation imaging can display stress patterns in materials. Other developments in machine vision technology lead to enhanced performance, integration and automation in manufacturing industry. The degree of integration can rangefrom manual assembly assistance through to complete integration into OEM equipment and on tothe demanding requirements of Industry 4.0.Aiding Manual AssemblyThere are still huge numbers of products that are assembled manually and a `human assist' camera can be used to help to prevent errors in such operations. The operator follows a set of assembly instructions loaded into the camera and displayed on a monitor. After every action the system compares the result to the correct stored image to ensure that it has been carried out correctly and completely before the operator can move on to the next step. If an action is incomplete or if a mistake is made, it is IN MY OPINION
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