SPONSORED FEATURE
Performance improvement through systems integration
and machine vision A
I, Industry 4.0, Chat GPT type products – where to from here? Caveat Emptor! (Buyer beware!). The past ten years
have seen technological development move at a phenomenal pace. Everyone claims to have the latest and greatest gismos to help prospective buyers achieve their pressing objectives. Caveat Emptor! Naturally everyone wants the best and the latest proven methodologies to help them reduce wastage and improve effi ciencies. We off er words of caution. It is too easy to fall in love with the latest technology and to believe that somehow it will be the long- awaited fi x to all problems. When it comes to lasting performance improvement and sustainability, there is usually no quick fi x or silver bullet. The main reason for this, is engagement, or rather, the lack of it. Even the best and latest systems will fail to achieve desired outcomes when engagement is lacking. Total commitment and engagement from top fl oor to shop fl oor is essential. No system can operate at full potential without such engagement. Readers will have heard much about AI, Industry 4.0, Chat GPT, MIS/MES and much more. Most salesmen make exaggerated claims for their off erings as they really want users to see their off er as a panacea to solve all problems, for ever, with minimal input, eff ort, commitment or engagement.
32 May 2023 | Automation
This is why, even now, in these so-called enlightened times, some 70% of computer systems fail completely or fail to deliver fully against expectations. For this reason, we will always encourage potential users to see the big picture, but to start small, to pick one particular area where investment in technology, commitment and engagement can show a rapid payback on investments, but wherever you start, total engagement with the system and desired outcomes is essential.
One such area is machine vision. For too long too many potential buyers have believed the myth that a camera on the production line will solve all problems – ”Bung a camera on the line, that’ll fi x it!”. Well, as many have found to their cost, it isn’t that easy. The concept is simple enough, but it isn’t easy. Machine vision needs total commitment and engagement from the whole team.
Integration of two great specialists Many will already know of Harford Control for its reliable integrated information management systems, which have helped a wide range of users protect themselves and consumers from risk, whilst saving millions in the cost of transforming raw materials to fi nished goods. Not so well known is our involvement in machine vision. For several years we have worked with Visicon Ltd and have, with their expert support,
By Roy Green of Harford Control and Peter Jelf of Visicon
successfully integrated vision systems as a valued part of Harford’s factory solutions. With the increased speed and complexity of production lines we felt we needed to go further and, long story short, we became partners and shareholders with Visicon.
For this reason, we felt that our article this month should focus on some of the latest developments in vision technology. Some vision applications are easy and straightforward, but some are far more complex. Without Deep Learning techniques, some applications would be impossible. Today, therefore, we will focus on some of these technologies and present a case study.
Deep learning is a type of artifi cial neural network with multiple layers to recognise patterns in data, in our case, images. A well-trained deep learning system will have human-like perception, such that it would pick up defects, variations or read text in the same way that a person would. Great, but very time consuming. Hundreds or even thousands of images have got to be labelled and defects outlined. It also needs to be done on a high-powered PC, but then the user gets a very, very good inspection system with human-like perception.
Case study: Deep Learning We were asked by a ready meals manufacturer to install an online vision system to determine the make up of
automationmagazine.co.uk
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