Machine Vision: A Multi-Disciplinary Systems Engineering Problem

Abstract

The successful application of image processing to industrial inspection and measurement requires the combining of a number of techniques from different disciplines including optics, electronics, computer hardware and software design, and mechanical engineering. The main subsystems of a typical machine vision system are the image capture subsystem, incorporating sensors and image digitization, the image processing subsystem, where the required information is extracted from the image, and the control subsystem, which uses the information obtained to control a task or activity. In recent years, the commercial availability of general purpose modules such as cameras, frame grabbers, robots, and their controllers has simplified system design considerably. The advent of very large scale integrated circuit technology is broadening the range of applications of machine vision by enabling fast hardware to be designed.