Vision Inspection Technology and Its Application in Assembly Process

What is Vision Inspection Technology?

Vision inspection technology is a technique that uses computer vision and image processing methods to automatically analyze and understand images or video information obtained from cameras or other imaging devices. It transforms the target into image signals through vision, which are then transmitted to a dedicated image processing system. The system converts these signals into digital signals based on pixel distribution, brightness, color, etc. The image system performs various calculations on these signals to extract the target's features and, based on the results, controls the actions of the on-site equipment. This technology can be used to inspect, recognize, and classify specific patterns in objects or scenes and make decisions based on this information.

Applications of Vision Inspection Technology

• Manufacturing Industry: Used for quality control, such as detecting product surface defects, measuring dimensions, and checking assembly integrity.

  
  

• Healthcare: Assists in diagnosing diseases, such as identifying lesion areas through X-rays, CT scans, MRIs, etc.; also used in surgical navigation and pathology analysis.

  
  

• Security and Surveillance: Real-time monitoring of safety in public spaces, recognizing faces, abnormal behaviors, and preventing criminal activities.

  
  

• Autonomous Driving: Vehicles use cameras and other sensors to collect environmental data and vision inspection algorithms to identify road signs, pedestrians, and other vehicles to ensure safe driving.

  
  

• Retail Industry: Smart shelves automatically sense product inventory; unmanned stores use vision systems to track customer purchases and complete checkout.

  
  

• Agriculture: Drones equipped with cameras fly over fields to assess crop growth, pest damage, and soil moisture using vision inspection technology.

  
  

• Entertainment and Interaction: In augmented reality (AR) applications, vision inspection technology helps accurately overlay virtual elements on real-world views; also used for gesture recognition and motion capture in game development.

  
  

• Robotics: Provides robots with vision capabilities, enabling them to better understand and adapt to their environment, performing more complex tasks.

Application of Vision Inspection Technology in the Assembly Process

Appearance Inspection

Appearance vision inspection technology is used for automatic inspection of product surface quality, primarily in the quality control stage of manufacturing. This technology can efficiently and accurately detect surface defects such as scratches, dents, cracks, uneven color, stains, and shape deviations that may occur during production. By using high-resolution cameras and advanced image processing algorithms, the appearance vision inspection system can quickly scan the product surface and compare it with preset standards or templates to determine if the product meets the quality requirements.

Deviation Detection

Road test deviation detection refers to driving the vehicle a specified distance at a set speed, with the driver holding the steering wheel loosely. The vehicle is monitored to ensure that the deviation is within a specified range, with the left deviation not exceeding xx meters and the right deviation not exceeding xx meters. The vision inspection system will fit a straight line based on positional relationships, calculate the absolute distance of all points in the point set to this line, and record the points where the calculated values exceed the threshold. Then, the system checks the points that exceed the limit and uses algorithms to determine if the vehicle is deviating.

Tire Grasping

After the tire is clamped and positioned, an annular light source is used to illuminate the inner surface of the rim. The camera’s photographing program identifies the large circle at the center of the rim and finds the center point for positioning. The tire's angle is determined by locating the positions of three screw holes on the rim. Once identification is successful, the data is sent to the robot, guiding it to position and grasp the tire.

With the development of Industry 4.0 and smart manufacturing, appearance vision inspection technology will continue to evolve, integrating more intelligent features such as adaptive learning and predictive maintenance. This will further improve product quality and production efficiency in the manufacturing industry, and we look forward to these advancements.