AUTOMATION
ago, half of our business was with original equipment manufacturers that would buy the components and build them into a vertical market product; the other half went to vision specialist integrators. Te latter would do the programming themselves and build vision systems from the ground up to do what their manufacturing customers wanted.’ But now the big integrators
are becoming more specialised and addressing the complex applications that 10 years ago just were not possible. Stemmer Imaging still supplies these companies with components for more demanding applications. However, Williamson explained that simpler tasks have divided the market into thirds, with factory companies now opting for off-the-shelf solutions that are simple to integrate and easy to train an operator. ‘It has taken a long time for the algorithms
It’s our
cameras up; 10 years ago this was too slow. Tis hindered the complexity of an algorithm.’ Flexible manufacturing is also being strived
responsibility to make sure the robot understands what the system is saying from the vision side
for. Where it was the case that it would take months for a manufacturer to adjust its production line for a new model, now multiple models can be processed on the same line – and this has been made possible by soſtware and vision. Williamson stated: ‘Now, an automation line doesn’t need complete retooling for a new part or model. ‘It’s a trend that is happening
now, flexible manufacturing has been around for a while but it is becoming more important.’ He continued: ‘It is evident in the automotive
used to become clever enough, and the soſtware advanced enough, to make the applications simpler,’ Williamson said. ‘Tis is helped, largely by driving the processing power of smart
industry. Ten or 15 years ago there were a lot fewer models; now, each production line has several different models randomly coming down the line, and while there has always been an element of personalisation or customisation, this is now becoming more prominent. ‘Te key for me is that machine vision doesn’t have to only be used for inspection now; it
is now a crucial part of the manufacturing process. It can be used to guide a robot, or if there are multiple products being used on the same production line, machine vision can be used to identify which component or model it is and apply any required variants to the process.’ He explained that the key advantage was
that now, if there is a series of products being manufactured on the same line but with slight variation, they may need different processing and inspection. Tis could be placement of sound deadeners or glue, but, depending on the model, it may be in different places. ‘Vision is being used to provide feedback and
control of the process,’ Williamson said. For example, a vision-guided robot can apply glue to a part by tracking along its edge, rather than just carrying out an inspection of a glue line. Another example is using vision to measure the fat, the lean, and the total volume of meat in order to cut slices of a similar thickness and weight. Te core of most successful automated
systems is a programmable logic controller (PLC), so the next challenge is easy integration of the vision system with the PLC. Williamson said: ‘To make the integration of vision simple,
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