General concept of vision systems

Vision systems are technologies designed to replicate the human sense of sight in industrial, scientific or control environments. These systems capture, process and analyze images or videos to make automatic decisions or monitor processes, improving accuracy and efficiency in various applications.

In essence, a vision system combines hardware and software to detect features, measure dimensions, identify objects or verify quality, reducing human intervention and increasing the speed of decision making. Its use has spread in sectors such as manufacturing, robotics, security and more.

Image capture devices

Vision systems start with devices that capture digital images: industrial cameras, sensors or scanners. These devices can be monochrome or color, and their choice depends on the specific application, the speed required, and the resolution needed.

The cameras can use CCD (Charge-Coupled Device) or CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor) technologies, each with particular advantages in terms of sensitivity, power consumption and capture speed. Proper lighting is crucial to ensuring clear and consistent images.

Additionally, specialized optical lenses are used to focus and adjust the image, allowing you to capture fine details or magnify specific areas depending on the system's objective.

Image processing and analysis

Once the image is captured, the vision system processes it using specific algorithms, which may include filtering, segmentation, edge detection or pattern recognition. This stage is essential to extract relevant information and facilitate automated decision making.

Processors can be integrated into dedicated hardware, such as FPGAs or DSPs, or run on industrial computers with specialized software. Processing speed is key for real-time applications, such as quality control on production lines.