Vision checks fire bulbs

To inspect glass fire bulbs that flicker, ibea (Hamburg, Germany; www.ibea.de) has developed a machine-vision-based system consisting of a storage container with stacking function that moves the bulbs onto a conveyor. From this conveyor, the first vision station uses an LED backlight to inspect bulb length and direction.

Bulbs that pass inspection then move by carousel to a second vision station where robotic pickup arms place each bulb for 360° inspection: four images of the top half and four of the lower. The imaging system inspects for cracks, diameter, length, and wall thickness. Eight images of each bulb are stored and the bulb is placed on another carousel for further processing. The system inspects one bulb every 3 s.

The two XC-HR50 cameras from Sony Electronics (www.sony.com/videocameras) used in the system are equipped with 50-mm lenses. System software was developed in Linux C++ by ibea along with ibea’s Real Time System and illumination controller. All software was integrated into a PC customized by Eltec International (Mainz, Germany; www.eltec.de).