Machine vision in the company: applications and advantages

Published : 09/06/2022 10:00:00

Factory automation has achieved important results and set new goals in the field of machine vision. Reproducing the human visual system is the challenge of machine vision, which has found increasing recognition in industry and manufacturing.

The availability of machine vision solutions that can be directly integrated into factory environments, production lines and software systems is crucial for optimizing business processes: accuracy and objectivity of quality controls, constant and remote monitoring for difficult applications, return on investment and waste reduction.

While the field of industrial computer vision is particularly broad, with virtually endless possibilities for use, let's try to answer some specific questions instead: what are the main applications of machine vision in the enterprise? What departments and industries can benefit from an industrial machine vision system?

The applications of a machine vision system

It's easy to see how machine vision systems, thanks to advanced image processing technology, are mostly known and used as automatic systems for quality control and for dimensional measurement in production lines.

In fact, machine vision systems are highly versatile and can offer high value in a wide range of industrial applications. The most common include:

Qualitative, quantitative, dimensional and non-conformity surface surveys
Reading characters and symbols (OCR), barcodes (OBR), data matrix codes or QR codes
Pattern and color recognition, orientation and positioning
Checking for presence or absence of components
Robot guides, 2D and 3D surveying

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The advantages of a machine vision system in company departments

The first benefit of a machine vision system in the enterprise is to automate jobs and tasks that are closely related to human activities, increasing production efficiency while reducing costs. A computer vision system can improve process management within specific departments and tasks, depending on business needs:

Production and Quality Control

An applied computer vision system guarantees the conformity of parts and production batches, the suitability of assemblies, the quality of surfaces and profiles, various measurement, color and positioning controls.

Packaging department

Machine vision assists the operator in reading labels, printing verifications, checking part position and orientation, and analyzing content or fill level.

Logistics and Supply Chain

A machine vision system performs automated scans of pallets, labels and shipping documents, code reading for batch and serial numbers, inspection of non-conforming packaging or hazardous materials and robotic forklift guides.

Safety at work

Machine vision can be a valuable support to monitor and manage in an automated way the detection of anomalies related to employee safety (such as the proper use of PPE: safety glasses, masks, helmets).

The advantages of computer vision systems in industrial sectors

Computer vision is applicable in all companies that operate a production quality control system. Various industrial and professional sectors can benefit greatly from industrial automation on the quality control of products and processes:

Automotive Industry

A vision system facilitates surface inspections of metal parts and related assemblies, dimensional and quality analysis of brakes, clutches, bearings, wheels, tires or dashboards, presence and positioning checks of logos or printed elements.

Electronics industry

Machine vision simplifies the qualitative and quantitative control of electronic boards and their components, the dimensional and positioning verification of pins, connectors, printed circuit boards or resistors and the conformity analysis of assemblies.

Pharmaceutical and cosmetic industry

A machine vision system allows the non-contact and non-contamination analysis of medical instruments (vials, needles, syringes), the inspection of sterile or sealed medical material, the control of contents and packaging (blisters, packages).

Food industry

Machine vision automates the detection of defects in production lines, the management of the conformity/scarcity ratio, the control of aesthetic parameters (shapes, sizes, colors), the monitoring of expiration date and allergen labels.

Packaging industry

A machine vision system facilitates package conformity checks, code or label printing, presence/absence of internal components or residues (glue, bubble wrap), height, width, thickness measurements and code traceability.

Robotics industry

Computer vision combined with a robotic system allows the automated application of robotic guides for picking, inspection and selection of 2D and 3D objects, and for checks on non-standard machining with machine learning systems.

Industrial vision: what we can do at Digimax

The wide range of Digimax products for machine vision, including industrial smart cameras (matrix, linear, 3D, board level and related accessories) and industrial embedded PC's Advantech and AAEON, is combined with Digimax's extensive technical expertise and experience.

Digimax Group offers customized industrial automation consulting for the design of machine vision systems dedicated to business needs. One example?

This Digimax case study of image and face recognition for corporate safety is focused on a machine vision application able to recognize PPE devices worn by workers, thus ensuring their safety and security during the work shift.

A machine vision project requires the best combination of hardware and software customized to the customer's needs, which is why Digimax collaborates with the world's best partners to offer tailored machine vision solutions.

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