the track-and-trace part of Zebra’s business, according to Montanari. ‘We are very present in e-commerce, and the amount of automation with robotics that’s happening in e-commerce is mind- boggling,’ he said. He added that ‘the single most important technology that matters to us is robot guidance’. Vision technology is critical


here and complements the robot technology Zebra gained from Fetch Robotics, although Montanari explained that Fetch’s autonomous mobile robots would typically bring parts to a robot arm, which would then be guided by vision in pick-and-place tasks.


Full-range provider Montanari said machine vision is a specialised sector and as such Zebra is competing with leading firms in the industry. But he added there is also a different kind of competitor looking at the machine vision market: the cloud providers – Google, Amazon, Microsoft and the like. ‘Tey’re looking at this technology [vision] as being critical to manufacturing and e-commerce,’ he explained. Teir approach is different, according to Montanari, and involves edge devices and processing in the cloud. ‘It’s an interesting dynamic,’ he said. ‘Tese are the competitors that we are very worried about, firstly because of their size and influence, and secondly because they have the cloud infrastructure.’ Along with growth in


automation in e-commerce, Montanari pointed to the changes happening in automotive manufacturing – the switch to electric vehicles – as being another macro trend presenting an opportunity for machine vision suppliers. He said that Zebra is ‘seeing a lot of traction in that market’. In terms of technology,


Montanari said 3D vision and deep learning both show great promise, and that 3D in particular will make strides in the coming years, benefiting


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from faster processors that will make it more accessible and less expensive. Zebra plans to invest in


both 3D and deep learning. Te company will continue to bring together algorithms and products from Adaptive Vision and Matrox Imaging acquisitions, while also developing 3D products for robot guidance. ‘You’ll see something coming out in this domain [3D and deep learning] that we think will be very disruptive,’ Montanari said. He added: ‘You can marry those technologies [3D and deep learning] in the domain of robot guidance. If you do robot guidance in 3D you have a lot of advantages, and if you use AI for a specific part of robot


‘Te single most important technology that matters to us is robot guidance ’


guidance it becomes a very powerful solution.’ Montanari believes


consolidation will continue to happen in the machine vision sector. ‘Machine vision has been a relatively small market for a long time,’ he said. ‘Now it starts to be a big market, not just the size of the market but because of the technology – computer vision is now everywhere, from inspection to autonomous driving. Tat has caught the attention of large companies, Zebra included.’ Tere’s also a generational


change, where a lot of the pioneers of machine vision are retiring, with some looking for an exit plan. Zebra has found machine


vision ties in well with what it already provides and is putting a lot of resources into developing vision products. It will be interesting to see how its automation offerings progress, and whether, to bolster its vision products further, there will be more acquisitions in the pipeline. O


Booth #8E46


VISION 2022 in Stuttgart • October 04th


– 06th 2022, we are happy to be part of the show


and present our latest innovations on booth #8E46 Get in touch for a fixed appointment!


xiX-XL cameras with backside illuminated large format sensors


Highest resolution camera models with backside illuminated sensors


• Sony’s full-frame and medium format sensors: IMX455 with 61 Mpix IMX461 with 101 Mpix IMX411 with 151 Mpix


• Compact form factor compared to sensor size • Flexible cabling options ribbon cable up to 3m, optical up to 100m


www.ximea.com/xiX-XL


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