Welcome to the machinevision.co.uk website,
an introduction to machine vision
This website will help you understand today's machine vision technology and where it is used.
From its roots in early research into artificial intelligence in the 1940s, machine vision is now an essential component of industrial processes as diverse as semiconductor manufacturing, pharmaceutical packing, film container printing and automobile manufacturing - even checking for missing screws in flat-pack furniture kits!
Image processing - the heart of a machine vision system - has established itself as a versatile, user-friendly and economical tool for quality control in virtually all areas of industry. Unlike the human eye, machine vision systems can perform checks with 100% constant quality - around the clock.
A brief history of machine vision
- Late 1940s/early 1950s
- Image analysis military application of artificial intelligence
- Late 1960s/1970s
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) develops first real use of image processing in an industrial context with the Block Micro World project driving a robot arm
- 1980s
- Grayscale machine vision
algorithms developed and single board image processors available
Industrial applications cameras manufactured
Mass adoption of machine vision by semiconductor manufacturers - 1990s
- Massive growth of machine vision industry fuelled by availability of industrial systems
Smart cameras available using proprietary processing chips
Accelerated use of standard PC technology and Windows OS for machine vision - 2000s
- Development of ergonomic system solutions for factory integration
Machine vision industry adopts FireWire (IEEE1394) digital camera technology
Market continues to expand rapidly
Increasing automation and demands for quality mean inspection by human beings becomes impractical, driving the continuing development of new machine vision applications. The cameras and computers that make up a machine vision system don't get tired, make mistakes or subjective decisions; they work with constant precision at the pace of the production process.
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