What is machine vision? What are its applications?

 Simply put, the intuitive understanding of machine vision is to use machines instead of human eyes for measurement and judgment, which is equivalent to extending human vision on machines.

Machine vision principles

A complete industrial machine vision system consists of software and hardware, including light source, lens, camera, image processing unit (or image grabber), image processing software, monitor, communication/I/O unit, etc.

Industrial cameras are an important part of machine vision systems. Its most basic function is to convert optical signals into ordered electrical signals. The basic function of industrial lenses is to achieve beam conversion (modulation). In a machine vision system, the main function of the lens is to image the target on the photosensitive surface of the image sensor. Therefore, selecting appropriate industrial cameras and lenses is an important part of the machine vision system, and its selection is related to image quality.

What are the application scenarios of machine vision?

Machine vision is divided into application functions including measurement, detection, identification and positioning. Its application fields are mainly in the industrial field, and can be used in product measurement and inspection, robot navigation, identification and other applications, which greatly improves the flexibility and automation of production. Especially in the logistics industry, labor costs must be effectively controlled. The development of machine vision technology can be said to have opened up "new horizons."

In the field of logistics, the first thing is the degree of firepower of machine vision. During the logistics sorting process, the sorting robot reads the code through machine vision technology after receiving instructions, and dynamically measures the volume of the object to identify the volume, shape, type and material of the object. Using industrial cameras, real-time image collection and code reading can be performed in the package weighing area. Finally, the robot can send the goods to various places or designated shelves. The application of machine vision technology has replaced manual sorting of express delivery, greatly improving sorting efficiency.

In addition, machine vision technology enables robots to have 3D vision capabilities by relying on visual guidance, positioning and clamping products. In the automotive manufacturing and medical fields, machine vision systems are also used for measurement and inspection.

What is the market prospect of machine vision?

Currently, industry is still the main market for machine vision. In the automated production processes of semiconductor electronics manufacturing, automobile manufacturing, machinery manufacturing, food packaging, pharmaceutical and other industries, machine vision is widely used in the fields of automatic detection, process control and robot guidance. With the in-depth development of "Industry 4.0" and the popularization of industrial automation, the market size of machine vision in industrial manufacturing will grow steadily. In addition, in the non-industrial field, machine vision will achieve explosive growth as demand surges in the fields of autonomous driving, smart security and smart transportation. Yole expects the global machine vision camera market to grow from US$2 billion in 2017 to US$4 billion in 2023, with a compound annual growth rate of 12%.