Four Major Industrial Machine Vision Applications

With the rapid development of the industry, industrial machine vision applications are continuously expanding, especially in the four major fields of 3C electronics, semiconductors, lithium batteries, and photovoltaics. This article will delve into the machine vision applications in these four fields to reveal their importance in modern industry.

Machine Vision Applications in 3C Electronics Industry

As the benchmark for industrial machine vision applications, the 3C electronics industry still faces some technical challenges. Currently, the global 3C  electronics industry is shifting to developing countries, and with its high precision and rapid generation changes, the iteration of machine vision technology is accelerating. This change provides a good opportunity for the extension of application scenarios and category expansion of machine vision in the 3C industry, and it is expected that the penetration rate of machine vision in this industry will continue to increase in the future.

From the perspective of industry and product attributes, machine vision applications in the 3C electronics industry are relatively mature. The diversity and complexity of 3C electronic products determine their high demand for visual inspection, making machine vision an important tool to ensure product quality and production efficiency. With continuous technological advancement, machine vision will play an increasingly important role in the 3C industry.

Machine Vision Applications in the Semiconductor Industry

The semiconductor industry is moving towards full-process machine vision technology support. According to 2019 data, the global semiconductor equipment market sales reached $57.6 billion, with the Chinese market accounting for as much as 22.4%. In the next few years, as China's semiconductor investment increases, its market size is expected to leap to the first in the world.

The semiconductor industry's high requirements for integration and precision make machine vision technology's application in this field relatively early and widespread. Machine vision can effectively detect semiconductor appearance defects, sizes, quantities, flatness, etc., particularly critical in wafer manufacturing, positioning, cutting, and packaging processes. This full-process technical support enables the semiconductor industry to better ensure product quality and production efficiency.

Machine Vision Applications in the Lithium Battery Industry

With the rapid development of the new energy vehicle industry, the demand in the lithium battery industry is also growing explosively. Machine vision is widely used in critical processes such as defect detection, size measurement, and positioning of power batteries. With the continuous high prosperity of the lithium battery industry, the expansion of battery factories has further driven the demand for machine vision equipment.

The manufacturing process of lithium batteries is complex, requiring machine vision detection systems in multiple processes. With the increasing measurement requirements for cells, modules, and PACK, the application scenarios of machine vision are also becoming increasingly rich. Given the increasing complexity of the conditions of the objects being tested, full-line visual inspection has gradually become the standard for power battery manufacturers, further improving product quality and production efficiency.

Machine Vision Applications in the Photovoltaic Industry

The photovoltaic industry is experiencing rapid growth, with the application of machine vision also accelerating. According to data, in 2021, the production of solar cells in China grew at an annual compound growth rate of 35%, with the industry entering a rapid growth period. During this process, the scale of machine vision applications rapidly increased from RMB 260 million in 2019 to RMB 650 million in 2021, with a CAGR of 58%.

In the production process of solar cells, quality control of silicon wafers, defect detection during the process, and quality inspection of finished solar cells are crucial. Machine vision systems provide corresponding visual modules (including cameras, light sources, and lenses) in each process step, which can be quickly configured to ensure high-quality visual imaging effects. The application of this technology provides a solid guarantee for the sustainable development of the photovoltaic industry.