Machine Vision Basics

Introduction to Machine Vision
John Lewis
Global Content Marketing Manager, Vision
Agenda
What is machine vision?

Why use machine vision?
Machine vision applications
Types of machine vision systems
Vision system components
Machine vision terms
Improving vision system performance
Summary
Q&A
2 | 2014 Cognex Corporation
What is machine vision?
A simple concept
Formal definition:
Machine vision is the use of devices for optical
non-contact sensing to automatically receive and interpret
an image of a real scene in order to obtain information
and/or control machines or processes.
- from the Society of Manufacturing Engineers
or more simply:
The automatic extraction of information from digital
images for process control or inspection of manufactured
products.

Evolution of machine vision
Proprietary Box Embedded

Boards
PC Vision
Modular
Vision
Barcode Vision
Readers Sensors
3D Displacement
Sensors
1982 Today

Simple examples
Machine vision systems analyze images

Then makes decisions and/or returns numeric results
about each image it gets
Good Oil
Filter all
holes are
open
Reject oil
filter some
The center tab on this bracket is holes are
37.255 mm wide blocked
6
Image analysis
The primary purpose of machine vision is image

analysis
Decision
Image Answer
Location

Poll question #1
What is your level of machine vision experience?

a. Im completely new to machine vision and have
never used it before
b. Im a beginner with limited machine vision
experience
c. Im an intermediate user, familiar with different
types of machine vision technology
d. Im an advanced user, but theres always more to
learn

Where is machine vision used?
Electronics/Computer
Automotive Industry Industry
Semiconductor
Industry
Food Packaging
Consumer Products
Industry
Medical/Pharmaceutical
Shipping/Transportation Graphic Arts/ Packaging

Why use machine vision?
A critical role in achieving strategic goals
High speed production lines

Clean room environments
Hazardous environments
Microscopic inspection
Closed-loop process control
Robot guidance
Precise non-contact measurement

Benefits of machine vision
Strategic Goal Machine Vision Applications
Higher Quality Inspection, measurement, gauging, and
assembly verification
Increased Productivity Repetitive tasks formerly done manually are
now done by MVS
Production Flexibility Measurement and gauging / Robot guidance /
Prior operation verification
Less Machine Downtime and Changeovers programmed in advance
Reduced Setup Time
More Complete Information Manual tasks can now provide computer data
and Tighter Process Control feedback

Benefits of machine vision
Strategic Goal Machine Vision Applications
Lower Capital Equipment Adding vision to a machine improves its
Costs performance, avoids obsolescence
Lower Production Costs One vision system vs. many people / Detection
of flaws early in the process
Scrap Rate Reduction Inspection, measurement, and gauging
Inventory Control OCR and Identification
Reduced Floorspace Vision System vs. Operator

Poll question #2
What is your principal objective for attending this

webinar?
a. I am looking for a basic introduction to machine
vision
b. I want to know what kind of problems machine
vision can solve
c. I want to know the basic components of a vision
system and understand how they work together
d. I want to know which basic vision concepts I need
to master

Machine vision applications
Think: GIGI
Guidance Inspection Gauging Identification

Guidance
Determines part position (x, y, and angle)

Automates handling of parts for machines:
Alignment & Placement
2D & 3D Picking
Eliminates need for fixturing & improves robot
flexibility
Vision tool alignment, fixturing
Locate at least one feature on a part for the
purpose of calculating the (x, y) position and
rotation of the part to position other vision tools
precisely
*First step in every vision application is to

find the part or features of interest

Geometric pattern matching
Trained Part
Out of focus
Confusing Background
Scale Change
180 Rotation Dim Lighting
Reversed Polarity Occlusion

Part location challenges
Appearance changes

Part location challenges
Presentation / Distortion effects

Inspection
Broad category of vision applications:

Correct location
Orientation
Skew
Quality
Defect Detection
Surface Inspection
Contaminants
Completeness
Fill Level
Feature Presence
Counting
Assembly Verification

Gauging
Precise dimensioning
Automated metrology and data recording
Ensure tolerances
Diameters, Gaps, Bushings, Threads, etc.

Identification
Read codes
Bar codes & 2-D Matrix
Labels & direct part mark
Read characters
OCR / OCV
Recognize objects
Based on color, shape, or size

Types of machine vision systems
1-D machine vision
100% continuous web
inspection and classification
Uses line-scan cameras
Materials inspected include:
Metals
Non-wovens
Plastics
Paper

2-D machine vision Area scan
640 1024 1600
480
768
1200

2-D machine vision Line scan
Image is built line by line
Movement is needed
Requires encoder to track movement Built Image
Short exposure times

Line Acquired
In-Sight
5604
Line Light
Conveyor
Belt
Movement
Encoder Shaft

Four reasons to use Line scan
1. Unwrap cylindrical objects for

inspection
2. Add vision to space-constrained

environments
3. Meet high-resolution inspection

requirements
4. Inspect objects in continuous

motion
3-D machine vision

Line scan vs. 1-D machine vision
Note the difference between Line scan vs. 1-D vision

Machine vision system components
Key parts of a machine vision system
Light Source
Display
I/O
Comm.
S L C 5 /0 4 C P U
I NPUT I NPUT O UT PUT
Lens Camera Vision Software

R U N F O R C 0 4 0 4 0 4
P O W E R
F L T D H + 1 5 1 5 1 5
B A T R S 2 3 2 2 6 2 6 2 6
R U N R E M P R O G 3 7 3 7 3 7
A- B
AL L EN- BRADL EY
Vision System
Inputs/Outputs: switches, PLCs, robots, lights

Putting it all together
Parts
Light Source
Lens Camera Output:

Serial
Monitor
Parallel
Input: ISA, PCI, VME bus
Serial
Parallel
ISA, PCI, VME bus
Vision System
Operator Pointing Device

(Trackball, Mouse, Touchscreen)

How the system works
1. Part arrives at inspection

station
2. Sensor detects part and sends a trigger to the vision system

3. Strobe is flashed to
illuminate part
4. Vision System acquires the image from the sensor.
FAIL!
5. Software algorithms running on vision system
performs image processing and/or image analysis
on acquired image
6. Vision system sends signal along a discrete output line

which activates a diverter if the part is bad
7. Operator can view rejected parts and ongoing statistics on display,

and can take system off-line if necessary

Machine vision algorithms
Transforms raw numbers into

useful higher level features
Raw numbers turned into edges, colors,
characters, and other characteristics
then makes decisions

Returns answers such as position, similarity,
distance, presence, quality
All within just tens to hundreds of milliseconds!

Poll question #3
What would you say are the principal challenges to

implementing successful machine vision on your
assembly/production line?
a. The management of my organization does not realize the
value of machine vision
b. Our line moves really fast and we have not found a vision
system that can keep up with it
c. We have variable lighting and/or environmental conditions
that make it difficult to capture a consistent image
d. The conditions of the attributes we need to analyze (e.g.,
codes, markings, etc.) are often so degraded that we
cannot read them
e. None of the above

Machine vision terms
Vision definitions
Field of View (FOV)

The part which can be
seen by the machine
vision system at one
moment. The field of view
depends from the lens of
the system and from the
working distance between
object and camera.
5 x 7

Field of view
What is my field of view?

3
15

Working distance and resolution
Working Distance (WD)

Distance between the FRONT of
the lens and the target
Resolution
The minimum feature size of
the object under inspection.
10

Working distance and FOV are interrelated

Depth of field
Depth of Field (DOF)

The distance in front of
and behind the object
which appears to be in
focus
More DOF with a small aperture

(high f/number) than with a
large aperture (low f/number)

Improving vision system performance
Different lens same image?
Lighting
Depth of field
Working distance
Line speed
Exposure time
Aperture
Budget

Lighting techniques
Light can be structured in different ways. Angle and direction of the light
determine how the mark and space is seen by the camera.
Dark Field
Back Lighting Axial Diffuse Structured
To learn more about choosing the

right lighting go to Cognex.com >
Resources > White Papers and
Bright Field Diffuse Dome Articles

4
Optics
To learn more about choosing the

right optics go to Cognex.com >
Resources > On-Demand Webinars

Filtering techniques
Control quality and quantity

of light
Block all unwanted

ambient lighting
Pass only the output of

lighting used for inspection
For more on optical filters, go to
Increase contrast Cognex.com > Resources > On-
and resolution Demand Webinars

Image pre-processing tools
To learn more about image pre-processing, go

to Cognex.com > Resources > On-Demand
Webinars

Summary
Make products better, faster, and less expensively
Gauging, Inspection, Guidance, and Identification are

the key applications
Key components are the lens, camera, lighting, vision

software and communications
Learn more about optics, lighting, filters and image pre-

processing to improve system performance
Dont go it aloneget help from experts!

Thank You!

Machine Vision Basics

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Introduction to Machine Vision

What is machine vision?

4 | 2014 Cognex Corporation

Proprietary Box Embedded

5 | 2014 Cognex Corporation

Machine vision systems analyze images

The primary purpose of machine vision is image

7 | 2014 Cognex Corporation

What is your level of machine vision experience?

8 | 2014 Cognex Corporation

Shipping/Transportation Graphic Arts/ Packaging

9 | 2014 Cognex Corporation

High speed production lines

11 | 2014 Cognex Corporation

12 | 2014 Cognex Corporation

Reduced Floorspace Vision System vs. Operator

13 | 2014 Cognex Corporation

What is your principal objective for attending this

14 | 2014 Cognex Corporation

Guidance Inspection Gauging Identification

16 | 2014 Cognex Corporation

Determines part position (x, y, and angle)

*First step in every vision application is to

17 | 2014 Cognex Corporation

Reversed Polarity Occlusion

18 | 2014 Cognex Corporation

19 | 2014 Cognex Corporation

Presentation / Distortion effects

20 | 2014 Cognex Corporation

Broad category of vision applications:

21 | 2014 Cognex Corporation

22 | 2014 Cognex Corporation

23 | 2014 Cognex Corporation

25 | 2014 Cognex Corporation

26 | 2014 Cognex Corporation

Short exposure times

27 | 2014 Cognex Corporation

1. Unwrap cylindrical objects for

2. Add vision to space-constrained

3. Meet high-resolution inspection

4. Inspect objects in continuous

29 | 2014 Cognex Corporation

Note the difference between Line scan vs. 1-D vision

30 | 2014 Cognex Corporation

Lens Camera Vision Software

Inputs/Outputs: switches, PLCs, robots, lights

32 | 2014 Cognex Corporation

Lens Camera Output:

Operator Pointing Device

33 | 2014 Cognex Corporation

1. Part arrives at inspection

2. Sensor detects part and sends a trigger to the vision system

6. Vision system sends signal along a discrete output line

7. Operator can view rejected parts and ongoing statistics on display,

34 | 2014 Cognex Corporation

Transforms raw numbers into

then makes decisions

All within just tens to hundreds of milliseconds!

35 | 2014 Cognex Corporation

What would you say are the principal challenges to

36 | 2014 Cognex Corporation

Field of View (FOV)

38 | 2014 Cognex Corporation