Advertisement:
  Home
  Subscribe
  Updates
  Calendar of Events
  Departments
  Features
  Industry News
  Products
  Special Collections
  Quality Magazine
  NDT Supplement
  Resources
  2009 Quality Professional of the Year
  2009 Quality Plant of the Year
  Vision and Sensors Source Book
  Archives
  Buyers Guide
  Industry Links
  Market Research
  Product Info (Free)
  Quick Clicks
  Vision & Sensors Info
  About Vision & Sensors
  Contact Us
  Editorial Guidelines
  Media Planning Guide
  Reprints
Search in: EditorialProductsCompanies
Volume 1, Issue 1

                      VS1006cover5-fnl1111111111  

- IN THIS ISSUE of Vision & Sensors UPDATE

   - Reintroducing Machine Vision

   - Machine Vision Evolves

   - Vision Ensures Pen Quality

Sponsored By:

VisSen-LS77-Nov14-06

Super-Wide Beam LED/CCD Optical Micrometer Measures Large Diameter Targets

Keyence adds the new LS-7070 65mm super-wide beam LED/CCD Optical Micrometer to the LS-7000  
Micrometer Series. Precision measurements can  now be achieved on large diameter targets. Sampling rate is 2400 samples/sec. Repeatability is ±0.2um. The maintenance-free, continuous beam LS-7000 Series incorporates no moving/scanning parts, uses a high-intensity GaN green LED and telecentric (parallel) optics. The LS-7000 Series includes the LS-7030 30mm beam and the Super-Fine LS-7010 6mm beam models. Download catalog

 

Product Spotlight:

VISION PROFILE

Machine Vision Evolves
q
by Michelle Bangert

While cost has gone down, machine vision performance has gone up, so says Marcel Singleton, founder and director of business development, The Value Engineering Alliance (Cambridge, MA). "If it can be done by machine viion, it can be done faster and better," Singleton says.

Vision has come a long way since 1984, when Singleton began working in Analog Devices' industrial automation division's machine vision product groups. A vision system went for $30,000 to $40,000, and typically companies made proprietary systems.  Learn more ...
COMING EVENTS

Dec. 4-7, Introduction to Minitab, Basic Statistics, Quality Statistics, Factorial DOE, Phoenix. Minitab, (800) 448-3555, x236 www.minitab.com/training

Dec. 5-7, 2006 Designing Reliable & Rugged Electronics, Las Vegas. Equipment Reliability Institute, (805) 564-1260. www.equipment-reliability.com
/regist_form.htm

Dec. 6-9 PLC-5 Maintenance and Troubleshooting Course, St. Louis. Rockwell Automation, (877) 724-7864. www.rockwellautomation
.com/training

Dec 7-8, 2006 Product Safety & Liability Prevention Seminar, Milwaukee WI.  Goodden Enterprises, (262) 594-5198. http://members.tripod.com
/~RLGoodden/seminar.html

Jan. 16-19, 2007  Six Sigma Upgrade to Black Belt, Southbury, CT. Juran Institute, (800) 338-7726. www.juran.com

Jan. 22-25, 2007  8th Annual Six Sigma Summit, Miami. Six Sigma IQ, (800) 882-8684. www.sixsigmasummit.
com/miami2007


April 23-26, 2007 Manufacturing & Measurement Conference & Workshop (MMCW), Clearwater, FL. Quality Magazine, (888) 530-6714. www.qualitymag.com
/mmcw

 

VISION & SENSORS NEWS
zReintroducing Machine Vision
by David Dechow

Over the years, machine vision has become an important tool for quality analysis. As a technology, it is well-suited for on-line improvement of the manufacturing process. Yet machine vision is not as ubiquitous on the plant floor as might be imagined. According to some market experts, operators barely have scratched the surface with respect to opportunities for machine vision inspection in the manufacturing process. Perhaps it is time to reintroduce machine vision to the quality professional, discuss where the technology is today and review how machine vision can be used successfully.

Machine vision is an automated technology in which images are captured and transferred to a computer-image acquisition-and then processed to perform an inspection task and report the results-image analysis. Although sometimes implemented off-line, it is most effective when used as an integral part of a manufacturing process to capture production errors. Machine vision inspection can enhance quality when used to evaluate manufacturing at various steps in a process, thereby providing immediate and targeted feedback that often includes information about how to improve the process.

Overall, machine vision technology is continually changing, growing and improving. Processing power has increased significantly in just the past few years, and higher resolution imagers are more readily available. At the same time, component costs continue in many cases to decline, making machine vision a cost-effective technology for the plant floor. According to the Automated Imaging Association, the machine vision industry will experience significant growth through 2010, with some industry sectors posting double-digit annual percentage increases in the number of units sold. Learn more...

asb0206AIA7000000000Vision Ensures Pen Quality

Although reliable, the machine occasionally creates defective pens as a result of improperly fed parts or tips that split during insertion. In the past, the company relied on operators to spot defects. But, because of high-production speeds, guaranteeing consistent product quality was difficult, if not impossible.

Faced with increased global competition and the high value of the New Zealand dollar, BIC realized it needed to solve this problem as part of an overall campaign to improve productivity and reduce its production costs. With this in mind, it installed a machine vision system that uses a pair of In-Sight 5100 vision sensors from Cognex Corp. (Natick, MA), one for tip inspection and one for end-plug inspection. The company also implemented special-purpose, LED-based lighting to increase imaging effectiveness and reliability.

"As a small plant we suffer from economies of scale compared to the larger plants offshore. We've looked at this technology before, but this time the price performance is at a level where we can justify the investment," says plant manufacturing manager Bernie Jamieson. "I've been impressed with what this equipment can do, how easy it's been to set up the inspections and how additional inspections can be added over time." Learn more...

inductive analog    

 Look for these articles in the next issue of VISION & SENSORS

- Smart Cameras

- Lighting

- Machine Vision Integration


V&S eNewsletter
Click the button below to sign up for the Vision & Sensors eNewsletter.






Vision and Sensors Supplement
Click here for Vision & Sensors Digital Edition.


China Spring 08
Click here for the 2008 China Spring Digital Edition


Vision and Sensors Supplement
Click here for the 2008 Vision & Sensors Source Book




Quality Vision and Sensors Conference Get Practical Information on the Use of Vision
Components, Systems and Sensors!
Don't miss the inaugural Quality Vision & Sensors Conference!
May 4-7. 2009
In Orlando, FL, at the Caribe Royale

Advertisement:
© 2007 BNP Media. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy