3-D flash light detection and ranging (lidar) cameras developed by Advanced Scientific Concepts (ASC; Santa Barbara, CA, USA) have been chosen for the OSIRIS-REx planetary science mission that will return a sample of a carbonaceous asteroid to Earth in 2016.

An editorial digest on machine-vision optics is available for free download from Vision Systems Design.

Smart camera vendors are developing products for niche applications using novel optics, filters, and sensors.

An automated metrology system leverages smart cameras, lighting, and edge-detection algorithms to measure tape on which electrical components for solar panels are placed.

Pattern-matching software is used to verify batch code markings on beverage cans in an automated inspection station

In Part II of this three-part series, associate professor Daniel Lau (Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Kentucky) describes how active stereo systems can perform accurate 3-D reconstructions even on scenes with low texture areas and smooth surfaces.

Microview & LinZhi Image Tech Corp. (MVLZ; Beijing, China) has developed an automated antisway system for use by port operators that incorporates a smart camera, fiber-optic communication link, and feedback control system based on a programmable logic controller.

AV&R Vision & Robotics has developed a system that combines visual inspection, robotics, and 3-D profiling techniques to inspect critical components such as those used in the aerospace and medical manufacturing industries.

Coleman Technologies Inc. (CTI; Newtown Square, PA, USA) has developed a linescan-based imaging system that counts a variety of seeds at rates of up to 1000 seeds/sec with a counting accuracy greater than 99%.

Using an automated optical inspection (AOI) tool based on a contact image sensor system from Tichawa Vision, Ersa's Versaprint solder-paste printer provides a 100% in-line inspection at a speed of 9.1 m/sec.

Graduate student Steven Arroyo of Rice University (Houston, TX, USA) has built a 3-D imaging system using structured light and has detailed the design on The Hackengineer web site.

Hungarian university spin-off Clariton (Budapest, Hungary) has developed a vision-based scanner that detects how well hands have been cleaned.

Researchers at the Laser Zentrum Hannover (LZH; Hannover, Germany) and the Biosystems and Horticultural Engineering faculty of the Leibniz Universität Hannover (Hannover, Germany) are developing a system that uses a camera-guided laser to fight weeds

Any nostalgic feelings for the past may be better put aside with the understanding that the future will only bring with it more exciting technologies, products, and applications.