Robotics & Automation News

Market trends and business perspectives

machine vision

North American machine vision market up 9.2 percent in 2018

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North American sales of machine vision components and systems that provide vision intelligence to robots and other machines reached $2.874 billion in 2018, an increase of 9.2 percent over 2017 and a new record for the market.

According to statistics from the AIA, the industry trade group and part of the Association for Advancing Automation (A3), application-specific machine vision (ASMV) systems led the growth with $1.998 billion in sales in 2018, an increase of 7.8 percent over 2017, followed by smart cameras with $466 million, an increase of 14.2 percent.

Machine vision component markets also set new records in 2018 with $401 million in total sales representing 11.7 percent growth.

[Read more…] about North American machine vision market up 9.2 percent in 2018

Integro named Fanuc authorized system integrator

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Integro Technologies, a machine vision integrator, has become a Fanuc Authorized System Integrator.

Integro Technologies offers its customers a seamless level of automation to their production lines through the synthesis of intelligent robotics, machine vision expertise, and support services.

As a Fanuc Authorized System Integrator, Integro’s customers will increase production, reduce cost, and increase profits.  [Read more…] about Integro named Fanuc authorized system integrator

Omron launches suite of traceability products to extend automation portfolio

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Omron Automation Americas is releasing an array of new traceability products developed within the Omron Microscan Business.

The Hawk MV-4000, MicroHawk ID-45 and HS-360X are now featured products within the company’s complete automation portfolio.

The launch follows the acquisition of Microscan Systems, in late 2017, which Omron says is an ‘industry-leading automation solutions provider” through which the company has gained a wealth of barcode reading and machine vision technologies that dramatically boost its overall automation capabilities.  [Read more…] about Omron launches suite of traceability products to extend automation portfolio

Atlas Copco acquires niche machine vision solutions provider

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Atlas Copco, a provider of sustainable productivity solutions, has acquired German Quiss Qualitäts-Inspektionssysteme und Service AG. The company specialises in machine vision solutions for quality inspection and robot guidance, and is mainly used in the automotive industry.

Quiss is based near Munich in Germany. The company had revenues of approximately 8.4m euros in 2017 and 45 employees.

Quiss’ core competence is image processing, algorithms, as well as system design including hardware and software. The products are mainly used for quality inspection of adhesive dispensing applications within the automotive industry.

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Omron’s machine vision technology wins innovators award

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Omron Automation has received an award for its “groundbreaking machine vision technology”.

Vision Systems Design, a news source about machine vision and image processing, has named Omron as one of its 2018 Innovators Award honorees.

Omron says it recently upgraded its machine vision portfolio to include several cutting-edge technologies that expand its ability to address challenges in automation.  [Read more…] about Omron’s machine vision technology wins innovators award

Dynamic vision sensors and event cameras could reduce machine perception’s computing workload

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Rewired’s Santiago Tenorio and Jae Yong-Lee explain dynamic vision sensors and event cameras in this exclusive interview

Just about every machine that moves requires some sort of sensing technology which informs it of its exact location and its position within its environment and its proximity to other objects within that environment. 

One of the most well-known computational solutions for such sensing systems is called “simultaneous localisation and mapping”, or SLAM, which can be found in things like robotic vacuum cleaners, warehouse robots and other moving vehicles.

In recent years, another technology called “light detection and ranging”, or LiDAR, has also received much attention because it seems to be popular with automakers.  [Read more…] about Dynamic vision sensors and event cameras could reduce machine perception’s computing workload

Robotic Vision Technologies upgrades eVisionFactory machine vision solution

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Robotic Vision Technologies, a provider of machine vision software, has upgraded its eVisionFactory solution.

The company says the new system is “transforming the way car manufacturers operate with the latest version upgrade to the award-winning eVisionFactory technology”.

RVT’s technology has been operating on mission critical equipment at car manufacturing plants for years, in some cases for more than a decade.  [Read more…] about Robotic Vision Technologies upgrades eVisionFactory machine vision solution

Robotic Vision Technologies secures $10.5 million in funding

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Robotic Vision Technologies, a provider of machine vision software, has secured more than $10.5 million in funding.

The investment comes from a mix of CEO and director funding as well as investments from technology funds from Silicon Valley, Northern Virginia, Canada and Germany.

To date, RVT has used its funding to focus heavily on research and development while continually enhancing its software with “faster computing power producing increased precision and speed with low-cost, yet highly sophisticated, off-the-shelf vision hardware components”.  [Read more…] about Robotic Vision Technologies secures $10.5 million in funding

B&R integrates image processing into its automation solutions

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B&R has made machine vision an integral element of its automation ecosystem.

B&R has introduced what it claims is the world’s first image processing solution to be seamlessly incorporated in the automation system.

The solution comprises cameras, software and lighting accessories.  [Read more…] about B&R integrates image processing into its automation solutions

Sony launches the third generation of its image sensors

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Sony Semiconductor Solutions has launched its third generation image sensors, IMX421 and IMX422, for “high-speed automation”.

Framos, a supplier of the technology, says the Sony Semiconductor Solutions feature its high-performance third generation CMOS Global Shutter with the brand-new IMX421 and IMX422 image sensors.

Both of these two high-speed sensors are designed for machine vision and factory automation, says Framos, and come with a pixel size of 4.5 µm for “high sensitivity and low noise”.  [Read more…] about Sony launches the third generation of its image sensors