Machine Vision Development Trend

Machine vision technology has been applied in factories, and has made a series of progress in automation technology, and gradually developed into a huge global industry. A significant portion of future technology will depend on machine vision, and the market will grow accordingly.

According to a recent report, the global machine vision market was valued at USD 7.91 billion in 2018. The global market is expected to reach USD 12.29 billion by 2023, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.61%. This strong growth was driven by a number of broader economic factors.

Ⅰ. What are the factors driving the long-term growth of machine vision?

The main drivers for the growth of the machine vision market are the need for quality inspection and automation within factories, the growing demand for AI and IoT integrated systems that rely on machine vision, and the increasing adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies that use vision to improve robotics productivity, and government plans to support smart factories around the world.

Machine vision software will be one of the fastest growing market segments between 2018 and 2023. The main reason for this is the expected increase in the integration of artificial intelligence with industrial machine vision software to enable deep learning in robotics.

PC-based industrial machine vision products, the oldest form of industrial machine vision, will retain most of the machine vision market share due to their ease of use and processing power.

Ⅱ. What are the trends worth paying attention to in machine vision systems?

While there are several major factors for the long-term growth of the global machine vision market, there are a few trends to watch out for now that are changing the way machine vision technology is deployed.

1. Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT): While artificial intelligence and IoT technologies are long-term drivers of growth, IIoT is combining production technology with information technology in today's factories to improve productivity. IIoT relies heavily on machine vision to gather the required information.

2. Non-industrial applications: driverless cars, autonomous farm equipment, drone applications, intelligent transportation systems, guided surgery, and other non-industrial uses of machine vision are rapidly gaining popularity and often require different functions in machine vision than in industrial application. These non-industrial uses of machine vision are being deployed and are likely to be an important part of the growth of machine vision.

3. Ease of use: From the user's point of view, machine vision systems are often complex.

As mentioned above, PC-based machine vision systems, despite their age, are still popular because of their ease of use. The need for ease of use could drive further standardization of machine vision products, which could make them easier to deploy in and out of factory settings.

The machine vision market is poised for long-term growth. IIoT, growing non-industrial applications, and ease of use all help drive the machine vision market today, but there are several other factors influencing long-term market expansion.