Handbook of Machine and Computer Vision, 2nd Edition

Chapter 2Introduction to Building a Machine Vision Inspection

Axel Telljohann

Consulting Team Machine Vision (CTMV), CTMV GmbH & Co. KG, Schwarzwaldstraße 7a, 75173 Pforzheim, Germany

2.1 Preface

This chapter is the introduction to the basics for designing a machine vision inspection. The next chapters give a detailed description of different terms such as lighting, optics, cameras, interfaces, algorithms, and the application of these components to the machine vision system in the environment of manufacturing.

Now, the following sections focus on how to solve a concrete vision task in practice and which steps have to be taken on the road toward achieving successful industrial application.

This roadmap provides a basis for the major decisions that have to be made for a design. It also calls attention to the optimum sequence in realizing a system. It is based on Consulting Team Machine Vision's (CTMV's) long-time experience in designing machine vision systems and displays their method of approaching a vision task.

The sequence of a project realization can be seen as follows:

1. 1. specification of the task
2. 2. design of the system
3. 3. calculation of costs
4. 4. development and installation of the system.

A successful design is based on a detailed specification. The task and the environment need to be described. Often, ambient influences such as mechanical tolerances and sometimes even the task are not specified precisely. This might be caused either by a lack of knowledge about these ...