Author Archive

Based in Taastrup, Denmark, Superfos a/s is Europe’s largest manufacturer of injection-molded plastic packaging, supplying packaging for food, non-food and healthcare markets. To ensure quality assurance of their products, Superfos partnered with TriVision a/s,, to implement a machine vision inspection system on their Randers, Denmark production lines for butter and dairy products. TriVision’s Packaging Inspector can detect defects such as overmolding in injection-molded plastic containers and check printed labels. For the inspection of square butter boxes, TriVision selected Stingray F-046B cameras from Allied Vision to control material defects. Two cameras are positioned below a conveyor belt and inspect the inside surface of the box as it passes above them. Simultaneously, an AVT Stingray F-201B inspects the printed artwork from above to check the correct position of the label and barcode, etc. Round cream cups are checked using a combination of Stingray F-146B and Marlin F-145C cameras. The Stingray F-146B camera inspects the inside surface of the cup as it passes below it on a conveyor belt, while a lateral Marlin F-145C camera checks the presence of the label on the outside surface. For more information, click HERE.

Don Braggins, a long-standing and highly respected figure in the machine vision industry, has passed away at age 70. Founder of Machine Vision Systems Consultancy in Royston, England, in 1983, Don specialized in image processing and analysis and was a frequent contributor to and participant in organizations such as the European Machine Vision Association and the UK Industrial Vision Association (UKIVA). First as a founding member of the UKIVA in 1992, he became its director in 1995, and helped guide its development for many years. He remained a consultant to the association until diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor in 2010.

Traveling frequently with his wife Anne, Don was welcomed by companies, universities, and trade organizations around the world for his experience, insights, and good humor. Before establishing his own company, he was product marketing manager for image analysis products at Cambridge Instruments. A graduate of Clare College, Cambridge University, he was a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of SPIE.

Machine Vision Systems Consultancy was known for its independence as a source of information about machine vision products and services. Clients varied from multi-nationals, to startup companies, venture capitalists, and OEMs.

As editor of technical journals and frequent contributor to trade press magazines, Don regularly researched the European market for industrial vision systems for individual clients and associations. Between 2000 and 2002 he served as a non-executive board member of Fastcom Technology, a Swiss spinout from EPFL Lausanne. He was also a board member of Falcon Vision in Hungary, providing international marketing advice and technology sourcing, and introduced Falcon to the French company Edixia, which subsequently bought a controlling stake.

“Don knew the machine vision industry like the back of his hand,” remembers Andy Wilson, Editor of Vision Systems Design. “You could always rely on him to direct you towards the latest developments and innovations shown at a trade show. He was not only knowledgeable but would freely share his valuable opinions and thoughts with anyone who cared to ask. I will miss him.”

In addition to his wife Anne, Don is survived by two children and five grandchildren.

The staff of Vision Systems Design extends our sincerest condolences to the Braggins family.

Engineers at Ohio State University have invented a lens that enables microscopic objects to be seen from nine different angles at once to create a 3D image. Other 3D microscopes use multiple lenses or cameras that move around an object; the new lens is the first single, stationary lens to create microscopic 3D images by itself. Allen Yi, associate professor of integrated systems engineering at Ohio State, and postdoctoral researcher Lei Li described the lens in a recent issue of the Journal of the Optical Society of America.Yi called the lens a proof of concept for manufacturers of microelectronics and medical devices, who currently use very complex machinery to view the tiny components that they assemble. Though the engineers milled their prototype thermoplastic lens on a precision cutting machine, the same lens could be manufactured less expensively through traditional molding techniques, Yi said. For more information, go HERE.

Making a cup of tea or coffee is surprisingly complex.  Yet this seemingly unexceptional challenge has been exercising the mighty brains of robotics experts for the last twenty years. One such expert is Dr. Michael Suppa, head of Department Perception and Cognition at the Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics at the German Aerospace Centre (DLR).  His team has been working on Rollin’ Justin, a robot that can interpret objects with a stereo camera system and understand their significance to the task.  Dr. Suppa is working with researcher Dr. Andrew Davison at Imperial College, London in robot navigation. “Once the robot starts moving, the scene is updated - a very graphics intensive task”, says Davison. Even when Justin knows what objects are, it still has to decide where to grip the object and how tightly.  As research partner, Dr. Jeremy Wyatt at University of Birmingham explains, “Justin uses learning as a predictor to both mass and the forces needed to be applied.” For more information, click HERE.

Vision for Service Robots is a new report from Vision Systems Design that provides a comprehensive review of the technologies, markets, and opportunities for suppliers of vision components, the researchers and integrators who are building service robots, and companies and organizations interested in entering the market. This groundbreaking 120-page report is based on extensive interviews and original research compiled over eight months by Adil Shafi, president of Advenovation, and Conard Holton, Editor of Vision Systems Design. It identifies multiple near-term market opportunities for vision components and systems totaling several billion dollars, and opportunities in the longer term that promise to be even greater. For more information, click HERE.

Cognex’s latest DataMan 500 fixed-mount barcode reader is the subject of a 30 min webcast scheduled for Thursday, May 26, 2011 at 2:00 PM (Eastern Daylight Time - US) EDT. Presented by Matt Engle, Manager of ID Products at Cognex, the webcast will give attendees the chance to win an Apple TV digital media receiver (approx. value $99 USD) by registering for the event. The Contest is only open to legal residents of the USA ages 18 and over currently living in the 50 United States and the District of Columbia (void in U.S. overseas territories and wherever else prohibited and/or restricted by law). Those who would like to register for this event, click HERE. It’s worth a look. I saw the product in action and it is rather impressive.

It is with great sadness that we must report the passing of Steven Montellese who at 59, died in Pittsburgh, PA on May 20, 2011, surrounded by his family and friends. Steve was born August 10, 1951, in New York City. He attended college at the City College of New York and graduate school at Brown University. He was a brilliant man with many great achievements, and he filled many roles. He was a pioneer in computer vision, a legendary host, a food critic, an author, an inventor, a philosopher, a world traveler, a brother, a son, and a father. From 1986, Steve was president of Millennia 3, a company that developed and marketed low cost, custom machine vision solutions for the industrial manufacturing industry. M3 was the first company to market personal computer based vision systems, as well as expanding the technology to three dimensional gauging and color machine vision. Perhaps many of our readers will remember him most as the Manager of Applications at Automatix, Inc (Billerica, MA) where he was responsible for product planning, marketing support, and corporate strategic planning. Steve is survived by his father, Pat Montellese; brother, Mark Montellese; son, Eric Montellese; daughter, Julia Montellese; and two grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his mother, Libby Montellese. A visitation will be held at H.P. Brandt Funeral Home from 2 pm to 4 pm, followed by a memorial service at 4 pm. In lieu of flowers, donations should be sent to the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, 803 Liberty Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15222. Phone: (412) 471-6070.

Based in Taastrup, Denmark, Superfos a/s is Europe’s largest manufacturer of injection-molded plastic packaging, supplying packaging for food, non-food and healthcare markets. To ensure a 100% quality assurance of their products, Superfos partnered with TriVision a/s, a leading Danish machine vision solution provider, to implement a machine vision inspection system on their Randers, Denmark production lines dedicated to containers for butter and other dairy products. For the inspection of square butter boxes, TriVision selected Stingray F-046B cameras to control material defects: Two cameras are positioned below a conveyor belt and inspect the inside surface of the box as it passes above them. Simultaneously, an AVT Stingray F-201B inspects the printed artwork from above to check the correct position of the label and barcode. The lids used to seal the containers are controlled on separate lines using Stingray F-201C color cameras. For more information click HERE.

Dr. John Haddon has been appointed as Technical Consultant for the UK Industrial Vision Association (UKIVA), following the retirement of Don Braggins. John is the founding director of Panther Vision Ltd, which joined the Association towards the end of 2009. John will be the first point of contact for anybody requesting technical advice from the Association, and will contribute articles to the trade and technical press as part of the Association’s continuing objective to raise and maintain awareness of the capabilities of vision technology in manufacturing industry. He has been a visiting Professor at the Centre for Vision, Speech and Signal Processing at the University of Surrey and a Visiting Fellow at both Surrey University and the University of Exeter. For more information, click HERE.