Vision Inspection Systems - Considerations When Choosing an Effective Machine Vision System

Intelligent cameras are the most effective meansGauging Tools
of rapidly implementing simple vision inspectionMeasurement tools are needed in advanced vision
system due to their ability to automate yoursystems. Sub pixel measurement tools are often
tasks, cost effectiveness and the ability to easilyneeded in productions which involve the accurate
integrate into your work system. Seeing that it isdimensional control of objects that are in the
a self-contained unit, automated inspection visionappropriate field of vision.
systems can be used for embedded single unitHelp Tools
applications or networked to industrialWhen choosing an appropriate machine vision
manufacturing systems.system, it would be helpful if the system that
Below is a breakdown of the basic componentsyou choose have extensive help topics and
of a smart camera system and some importanttutorial guides. You would do well in choosing a
considerations when choosing a vision inspectionsystem that has adequate hands off support,
system for your application.meaning that the software help manuals are clear
Basic vision inspection architecture:cut and offer clear instructions on operating the
What are the parts and specific considerations?vision system effectively.
Systems IntegrationImage Enhancement Tools
You need good photoelectric sensors that areInspection systems that will ultimately benefit
able to inspect automatically by triggeringyour production process would be systems which
automated systems. This is of course connectedallow you to preprocess the images that are
to the vision inspection system which will processgoing to be analyzed. Choose systems that can
the resulting images and automate the inspectionremove noise, compensate for variable lighting
of your products.conditions, correct geometric distortions, and
Effective vision inspection systems will integrate aother image enhancements which will make the
variety of cameras such as analog cameras, digitaleventual inspection of images an accurate affair.
cameras and progressive scan cameras. TheExample of a Vision Inspection System Application
choice between these three camera types comeSystem.
down to the applications that are needed in yourOne example would be if your company
setup. You will find that if your business is in themanufactures computer chips then you will need
business of epoxy die manufacturing then you willsystems that can measure the epoxy when
want to select vision inspection systems that canconjoining fabricated systems together. Epoxy
accommodate cameras that are suited for theVision Inspection requires you to inspect various
task.package types. You will need to be able to save
Software Features that you should request forand retrieve various inspection files. It is best to
when choosing an Effective Machine Visionbe able to define your own images through
Inspection Systemintegrated image processing systems.
Object ToolsGood vision inspection systems have the ability to
A general purpose machine vision inspectiondefine the acceptance level of the inspections.
applications will generally offer object tools that willResults that are generated from the inspection
help you inspect the products that yousystems should generate at least 4 sided
manufacture in your production. Object tools willindependent results.
analyze shapes in the image for various geometricThe epoxy length is one such area which an
characteristics which will ascertain the size, theinspection system should be able to automatically
perimeter and the density. If your manufacturingcalculate from the images that the system
plant requires you to sort the parts that arecaptures. The width, area, and location data should
manufactured then object tools will be an efficientalso be accurately captured.
tool in sorting and locating the parts that areThe input and output of the machine inspection
required.system should be ready for the integration with
OCR Toolsthe host equipment. You would do well to select
Optical Character Recognition is a technologysystems that allow you to customize to suit your
which has matured over the years and it isenvironment.
primarily used to read or verify printed orApplications that require vision inspection systems
mechanically generated characters. If yourinclude:
manufacturing plant has serial numbers,- Post Die Attachment Inspection
identification numbers, OCR technology will be able- Post Solder Paste Inspection
to recognize these markings through the images- 2D Data Matrix Code Inspection
that has been captured and with a bit of- Mark & 3D Lead Vision System
software help it will identify the correct markings- Strip Form Vision Inspection System
even if they are severely damaged.- QFN & MLP Vision Inspection System
Calibration Tools- Post Seal Vision Inspection
You might need a vision inspection system that- IC Mark Vision
as calibration tools which will convert pixel- BGA Vision Inspection System
coordinates to real world coordinates. For example- Epoxy Vision Inspection
you might want to convert from the readings of- Solder Paste Inspection System
the measured millimeters into inches.- Flip Chip Package AOI
Data Analysis Tools- Tube-To-Tube Automated Handler
Your vision inspection system that you choose- Feeder Verification System
might need to display analysis results which will- Solar Cell Front and Rear Inspection
display in tabular format and this gives in-depthSummary:
information about the image and the inspection.Machine vision inspection systems represent the
You will do well in choosing a system that cancutting edge of imaging technologies and new
sort all the data and provide critical information toadvancement of supportive software systems will
the appropriate personnel in your department.lead to only better and accurate inspection
Matching Toolsprocesses. The single most important element of
Vision systems that are sufficiently advancedchoosing the appropriate vision inspection system
often provide the ability to train the system on ais the solution provider which will be responsible
reference pattern and then locate similarfor helping you choose the best cameras for
occurrences in other images. Often this is calledcapturing and analyzing the images through the
the gray scale pattern matching. You might needsoftware that they provide which will make your
these kinds of tools when the position of a givenquality control process streamlined, cost effective
part in the field of view is unknown or if theand efficient.
presence of the parts must be controlled.