If you are competent in many technical fields but not outstanding in any one, you may find yourself somewhat derisively called “Jack of all trades, master of none.” To be an integrator of machine-vision components, however, requires just such a wide range of trades. In fact, you will probably have to be a master of many of them, considering the need to understand optics, illumination, image processing, computer science, and mechanical engineering to develop and install a machine-vision system.
As editor Andy Wilson notes in his My View column in this issue, machine-vision system integrators—unlike the proverbial “consultant”—must actually add value by delivering systems based on complex and disparate components and functions. Our articles in this issue emphasize his point.
Consulting Team Machine Vision was established in 2006 to provide these integration skills to electronics, medical, and automotive industries. Our interview with cofounder and managing director Katrin Pape shows that a system-integration companies must draw on numerous fields of expertise to develop new applications. It helps, no doubt, that she has a degree that crosses at least two skill sets—electrical engineering and automation technology.
Skill set
Two articles by Andy Wilson illustrate the knowledge about OEM components and technology required to develop machine-vision systems. In the first, he describes how many manufacturers are developing LED-based illumination sources as an alternative to halogen-based illumination in niche microscope-based fiberoptic lighting applications. The second article reviews the current state of digital camera interface standards. Industrial cameras based on these standards offer integrators increased data-transfer rates and a range of options that trade off bandwidth and cost. Additional standards are also under development and may impact future system design options.
Three feature articles describe some of the wide-ranging applications to which machine vision may be applied. An article on high-speed imaging used for battery inspection shows a vision system that increases quality, optimizes process flow, and reduces costs. Another, on high-speed x-ray imaging, shows a machine-vision system that inspects prepackaged needles. And our cover story describes a four-camera system that checks the labels on wine bottles.
Each of these applications targets different industries reducing costs and increasing throughput to ensure quality. Every machine-vision system was developed by engineers who, either individually or as a team, integrated their multiple skills and training. Machine-vision system integration is truly a master trade.
W. Conard Holton, Editor in Chief
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