Appropriate Light Source Solutions for Machine Vision

A good operating platform should be able to process images in a short time, good machine vision light source software should be able to be easily applied in a range of cases, good cameras and lenses should have small distortion and sufficient resolution. But what should be the characteristics of good machine vision lighting? What is the role of light sources in image analysis and processing?

To judge the quality of the lighting of the machine vision light source, you must first understand what the light source needs to do. Clearly the light source should be more than just enabling the detection part to be "see" by the camera. Sometimes a full machine vision system can't support the job, but just optimizing the light source can make the system work.

1. The location of the machine vision light source

Since the light source reflects at the angle of incidence, the position of the light source is important to obtain a high-contrast image. The goal of the light source is to make the feature of interest different from the reflection of the light source from its surrounding background. Predicting how the light source will reflect off the surface of the object can determine the position of the light source.

2. Surface texture of machine vision light source

Object surfaces may be highly reflective (specular) or highly diffuse. The main factor that determines whether an object is specular or diffuse is the smoothness of the object's surface.

A diffusely reflective surface, such as a piece of matte paper, has a complex surface angle and appears bright when viewed with a microscope. This is due to the change in the angle of the surface of the object, which causes the light source to shine on the surface of the object and is scattered. A smooth sheet of paper has a smooth surface which reduces the angle of the surface of the object. Machine vision light sources strike the surface of the light source and reflect at the angle of incidence.

3. Control reflection of machine vision light source

If the reflected light can be controlled, the image can be controlled. No amount of strength can be overstated. Therefore, when it comes to light source design for machine vision light source applications, a very important principle is to control where the light source is reflected to the lens and the degree of reflection.

The light source design of machine vision system is the study of reflection. In vision applications, when looking at an object to determine what light source is needed, you first need to ask yourself questions like: "How can I make the object appear?" "How can I apply the light source to reflect the necessary light into the lens. to obtain the appearance of objects?"

4. The factors that affect the reflection effect of the machine vision light source are:

The position of the light source, the texture of the object surface, the geometry of the object surface and the uniformity of the light source.