Posted to News on 18th May 2012, 15:27
New surface inspection technology from Stemmer Imaging
Stemmer Imaging is offering a new automatic surface inspection system, based on the patented Trevista image processing system from OBE GmbH & Co KG. Structured diffuse illumination is combined with specialised calculation algorithms within the popular Sherlock machine vision platform from Teledyne DALSA to create a fast automated total inspection system capable of identifying defects in a range of surfaces from shiny components to diffusely scattering surfaces.
The Trevista process closes the gap between 2D image processing and optical 3D shape recognition by combining the speed of 2D image processing with the precision of 3D recognition to allow a 100 per cent coverage of components, which in turn saves cost. The process filters the image information produced to separate topography and texture into different images. Topographic images allow defects down to a depth of just a few micrometres to be located and classified quickly, reliably and free of interference, while texture images allow differences in brightness on the inspected component to be determined.
Dome-shaped illumination housings are available in three different sizes to allow components up to 200mm to be measured. The housing provides structured and diffuse illumination from different directions and protects the system from ambient light interference. Systems are available with area cameras for the inspection of flat surfaces and line scan cameras for the inspection of cylindrical surfaces. The robust design allows reliable integration into the manufacturing process or into an automatic tester.
The image processing algorithms are integrated into the popular Sherlock advanced machine vision software interface, which can be applied to a variety of automated inspection applications. Sherlock offers machine vision system professionals extensive tools and capabilities for design, development, debugging, and user administration. The Trevista algorithms can also be implemented through Stemmer Imaging's own Common Vision Blox imaging toolkit.
To find out more about Stemmer's automatic surface inspection system, visit the website at www.stemmer.co.uk.
