What are the general components of the visual system of industrial robots?

Time: 2023-07-16

Industrial machine vision has various forms, which can be a single function (such as designing only for detecting LCD or BGA, alignment tasks, etc.) or a multifunctional (such as designing a kit that includes metrology, barcode reading, robot navigation, on-site verification, etc.). What are the components of a typical visual system?

1. Camera and optical components
This type usually contains one or more cameras and lenses (optical components) for capturing the detected object. According to the application, the camera can be based on the following standards: black and white, composite color (Y/C), RGB color, non-standard black and white (variable scanning), progressive scan, or line scan.

2. Lighting
Lights are used to illuminate components in order to capture better images from the camera, and the lighting system can operate in different shapes, sizes, and brightness. The general forms of lighting are high-frequency fluorescent lamps, LEDs, incandescent lamps, and quartz lamps.

3. Component sensors
It usually appears in the form of a grating or sensor. When this sensor senses a component approaching, it will give a trigger signal. When the component is in the correct position, this sensor tells the machine vision system to collect images.

4. Image acquisition card
Also known as a video grabbing card, this component is usually a card inserted into a PC. The purpose of this acquisition card is to connect the camera to the PC. It obtains data (analog or digital signals) from the camera and converts it into information that the PC can process. It can also provide signals to control camera parameters (such as trigger, exposure time, shutter speed, etc.). There are many forms of image acquisition cards that support different types of cameras and different computer buses.

5. PC Platform
Computers are a key component of machine vision. In terms of detection, applications typically use Pentium or higher CPUs. Generally speaking, the faster the computer speed, the shorter the time it takes for the visual system to process each image. Due to frequent vibrations, dust, thermal radiation, etc. in the manufacturing site, industrial grade computers are generally required.

6. Detection software
Machine vision software is used to create and execute programs, process collected image data, and make pass/fail (PASS/FAIL) decisions.