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Machince Vision and Quality Control

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All industries are becoming digital regardless of the name of the process. You can call it the 4th industrial revolution or smart manufacturing, what really matters is how this digitization can increase your competitiveness and improve your bottom line.

Full and smart automation is no longer a dream, it is our new and true reality. Logistics, manufacturing, automotive, retail, oil & gas, pharma, medicine, etc. companies can launch their respective process digitization in a step-by-step manner just by using the accumulated data visualization.

One prominent industrial technology that has been gaining a lot of traction recently is “Machine Vision”. It provides manufacturers with superhuman capabilities that are needed to the processes data in a fraction of time needed by several employees in the past. Machine vision can help in many cases of quality control such as using computer vision to assess medical images (count bacteria on them, determine the presence of any virus); applying computer vision to determine counterfeit goods during the packaging process; applying machine vision to find cars in forbidden areas; using computer vision for quality control of pests in agriculture; applying AI to control the goods on the shelves of the supermarket; and many more.

Machine Vision is a broad technological field, that focuses on the analysis of images or sequences of images to extract data. MV can also perform specific tasks such as object counting or defect searching. It includes image recognition, video recognition, optical character recognition, as well as computer algorithms to understand the content of digital images. Furthermore, the extracted data is accumulated to form a base for Artificial Intelligence applications and analysis for an improved decision making.

Machine Vision stands behind many great advances in industrial automation. One of the most prominent achievements is the field of quality control.

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In many industrial set-ups quality control is still performed manually. However, although the human ability to visually inspect different objects is very high, subjectivity and fatigue resulting from performing repetitive tasks may result in human costly errors. The cost here is not referring to the direct costs only but also the indirect costs of brand image and product reputation that can directly harm the company’s competitiveness.

In many industrial set-ups quality control is still performed manually. However, although the human ability to visually inspect different objects is very high, subjectivity and fatigue resulting from performing repetitive tasks may result in human costly errors. The cost here is not referring to the direct costs only but also the indirect costs of brand image and product reputation that can directly harm the company’s competitiveness.

On the other hand, MV-based systems deliver an effective solution for quality and process control, adding value to inspection operations due to enhanced productivity, the accuracy of the manufacturing processes, and reduction of operational costs. The system includes a camera viewing the production line that captures images which are then algorithmically compared to a predefined image to detect defective objects. The application has found major adoption for the detection of imperfections, geometric inspection, packaging control, product classification, surface finish inspection, color, and texture analysis, etc. 

MV can leverage several benefits for quality control such as:
•   Accuracy: MV-based solutions reported higher accuracy levels within the accepted tolerance in every process. 95% accuracy in the case of level of bacteria detection is a good example of the level of accuracy. 
•  Repeatability: MV-based systems perform monotonous tasks much more effectively than humans. A fully automated system will speed up the production time as the machine needs no time for thinking and, compared to an employee, its accuracy and repeatability is far greater.
•    Reduced Downtime:  The automated system is an effective tool in reducing quality control downtime because it runs much faster and can work continuously without breaks.
•  Reduced Costs: An automatic machine vision system provides tangible economic benefits such as saving employees costs and reutilizing their time in higher value activities. Additionally, a MV-powered system does not make mistakes, which can appear during manual control. The cost of a small human mistake can sometimes be valued at millions if not billions of dollars and Machine Vision helps to avoid it.

Finally, machine vision is an integral part of any digital transformation project with several uses that will render several benefits aiming at improvement competitiveness. 

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