■ What is a vision system?
A vision system (BVS) is a pre-configured system for controlling or inspecting automated processes using machine vision methods, e.g. in industrial manufacturing or processing. If a visual feature can be captured by image acquisition, machine vision can inspect, compare, measure and verify it. Machine vision systems are used in automated manufacturing, robot control and quality assurance. Increasingly, however, machine vision systems are also used in non-industrial environments, e.g. in medical and traffic engineering or in sports and entertainment.
■ What are the tasks of an vision system?
Tasks of machine vision systems include:
- the handling (automatic tracking of tools such as welding electrodes, screwdrivers, drills; especially in the automotive industry)
- the identification of workpieces
- the performance of inspection and measurement tasks in production/quality control
- the monitoring of facilities, rooms
- image enhancement
- image reconstruction (computer tomography)
- image understanding
