4. Packing and wrapping
In an effort to automate the sorting, packaging and process, the European Union has announced a project known as PicknPack that aims to unite the entire production chain. Initiated last November, the system will consist of a sensing system to assess the quality of products before or after packaging, a vision controlled robotic handling system that picks and separates the product from a harvest bin or transport system and places it in the right position in a package and an adaptive packaging system that can accommodate various types of packaging. When complete, human intervention will be reduced to a minimum. Click here to read more.
5.Automated retail
While today's supermarkets rely heavily on traditional barcode readers to price individual objects, future check-out systems will employ sophisticated scanning, weighing and pattern recognition to relive human operators of such tasks. One such instance is with Toshiba-TEC’s supermarket scanner, which uses pattern recognition to recognize objects without the use of bar-codes. Another example is Wincor Nixdorf’s fully automatic scanning system.
Whether it is crop grading, picking, sorting, packaging, or shipping, automated robotic systems will impact the production of every product made by man, effectively increasing the efficiency and quality of products and services along the way. Although developments currently underway can make this future a reality, some of the technologies required still need to be perfected for this vision to emerge.
Also check out:
Understanding lens choices for machine vision systems
Robots make food storage container assembly a snap
(Slideshow) 10 different ways 3D imaging techniques are being used
Share your vision-related news by contacting James Carroll, Senior Web Editor, Vision Systems Design
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