Get a Handle On Part Orientation for Visions Sake

If a vision system can’t repeatedly locate parts because of wide variations in part orientation, size and appearance, then vision inspection yield and reliability will be significantly reduced.

These variations include:

• Part contrast
• Multiple parts
• Changes in lighting
• Image focus
• Degraded appearance
• Partially-hidden parts

Cognex offers part and feature location software called PatMax® which utilizes advanced geometric pattern matching technology to reliably locate parts. Even in challenging conditions, this tool can significantly reduce or eliminate fixturing requirements and cost.

One Cognex customer I work with (a food cannery) uses a Cognex In-Sight® 5600 vision system with PatMax to inspect the product codes against the bright can background at a speed of 1000 products per minute. PatMax inspects the product code, but more importantly the tool recognizes the pattern of the code, regardless of its location. Rather than reading individual characters, the application is configured to simply look for an image that matches the three-digit product code. A new product code can be configured simply by putting a can with the new code in position to be viewed by the vision system and positioning a rectangular box around the product code. From that point, the vision system will detect that product code even if it is in a different position or at a different angle as long as it is in the field of view. This approach is much simpler, more robust and more economical than the machine vision technology used on this application in the past.

Read more about this customer’s experience.

PatMax is optionally available on all general-purpose In-Sight vision systems