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Getting Started: What is Imaging?
Over several decades, advancements in imaging technology have
brought improvements to both the industrial and consumer market
spaces and have accelerated growth in most all industries including
factory automation, autonomous systems, logistics, life sciences, electronics
and semiconductors, and metrology.
These advancements are seen every day in the form of high-quality
consumer electronics like smart phones, 4K TVs, and personal computers,
which have become easier to manufacture because of the
improved reliability and repeatability that imaging systems aff ord to
manufacturing processes.
6 +44 (0) 1904 788600 | Edmund Optics® targets The benefi ts of these advancements are also passed on to consumers
when purchasing goods online, in the form of extremely reduced shipping
and delivery times due to the simplifi cation and optimization of
logistical processes used in storage facilities and product warehouses.
These advancements have also enabled the high-throughput production
of life-saving pharmaceuticals and have enabled the creation
of novel, complex medical devices and procedures, which reduce
patient recovery times and allow patients to live much longer and
healthier lives.
The fundamental components of an imaging system are illumination,
an imaging lens, and a camera. Illumination is used to properly light
the object and/or highlight features of interest. It helps the imaging
system properly “see” the object. The imaging lens takes the object
information and reproduces it on to a camera sensor. Although software
and motion control may be needed to tie these three components
together, choosing the proper three fundamental components
helps to build the foundation of a successful imaging system. It is
important to understand how decisions and tradeoff s impact the fi nal
performance of the imaging system and the end application. Should
a monochrome or color camera be used? What is the optimal illumination
geometry? Does the camera come with a lens? Which lens
works best for the application at hand? Whether your application is in
factory automation, autonomous systems, life sciences, or something
else, understanding the three fundamental components eases the development
and deployment of these sophisticated imaging systems.
Factory Automation
The use of controllers, algorithms,
and sensors to automate
repetitive tasks and reduce human
oversight. Commonly automated
tasks include sorting, inspection,
and defect detection. In
general, when thinking of “machine
vision”, factory automation
is what springs to mind.
Autonomous Systems
Autonomous means having the
ability to self-govern. Common
autonomous systems include
self-driving cars and trucks, fl ying
taxis, agriculture or farming
robots, and delivery robotics.
Vision systems are an incredibly
important piece for the future of
autonomous systems.
Logistics
Logistic processes often use
robots for automated warehousing.
Robots perform OCR
or scan barcodes on products
to rapidly identify products on
shelves or packaged and ready
to be shipped.
Life Sciences
Life sciences include fi elds related
to biology, medicine, physiology,
and much more. Besides Xray
imaging and MRIs, this space
also uses a wide range of imaging
techniques like microscopy
and special labelling to view,
count, sort, and perform other
cytometry methods on cells.
Electronics and
Semiconductors
More circuitry can be integrated
on semiconductors than ever before
and fl at panel displays have
extremely high resolutions. To
manufacture such complex devices,
electronics and displays must
be inspected for chip placement
and defects at very high resolution.
Metrology
Information about an inspection
sample like a characterstic dimension
or colors must be measured
with repeatable accuracy
and reliability. Applications that
require accurate measurement
include time-of-fl ight imaging,
scheimpfl ug scanning, 3D imaging,
and LIDAR imaging.
Imaging Applications