Q&A: 3D line scan and multispectral imaging, identifying new market opportunities

Sept. 30, 2015
In this Q&A, Peter Kempf, key account manager for Chromasens, discusses such topics as 3D imaging, multispectral imaging, new product development, and potential market opportunities. 

The following is a discussion with Peter Kempf, key account manager, Chromasens

Name: Peter Kempf
Company:
Chromasens
Title:
Key Account Manager

What is your latest product and for what reason was it developed?

Chromasens’ latest products extend our portfolio from standard color line scan cameras to line scan cameras that use multiple optics and sensors in order to achieve multispectral or stereoscopic images. Both directions open up a host of new applications that we have not been addressing earlier. They also take us from our field of applications in inline inspection (e.g. print inspection) to the field of inline metrology, such as 3D measurement and color measurement.

The success of companies like Chromasens is based on continuous innovation. We need to invent and bring to market products with high added-value to exploit our high level of technical experience and make best use of our highly-skilled employee base, which consists of many PhDs and specialized engineers. With the latest addition we have proven that we are able to develop absolutely unique products that differentiate from what is available in the machine vision market.

What is your take on the current state of the machine vision market? (Strong, poor, etc?)

We are very optimistic on the machine vision market. Performance of vision systems is constantly improving so that new applications can be realized that were unthinkable just a few years ago. At the same time, the cost of vision systems is falling, increasing their penetration in all industries.

There is no doubt that we will see machine vision grow in quantity, but also in total revenues worldwide for the next couple of years to come. For products like ours, there are so many good business opportunities out there, that we are in the good situation to be able to choose the ones that suit our technology best.

Are market changes affecting your product development, and if so, how?

The overall economy shows a lot of volatility during the last decade. For example the Chinese market is today quite different from before. Customers are much more selective, as they are looking more for quality and differentiation and competition for Chinese customers is today as strong in China as it is elsewhere. At the same time, the North American market shows today much more desire for investment in high-tech investment goods than in the last years. So we see our business growing significantly in North America.

In which areas or applications do you see the most growth?

There is a significant interest in 3D right now, which applies to us. We have plenty of opportunities for our 3D line scan cameras in applications ranging from infrastructure inspection (train/road, mm-type resolution) to semiconductors inspection (µm-type resolution). 3D does offer a new level of defect detection, measurement and sorting in industrial production processes, that was simply impossible to achieve before. We think that this trend is just at the beginning and will extend for many years.

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About the Author

James Carroll

Former VSD Editor James Carroll joined the team 2013.  Carroll covered machine vision and imaging from numerous angles, including application stories, industry news, market updates, and new products. In addition to writing and editing articles, Carroll managed the Innovators Awards program and webcasts.

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