Basler AG has acquired a 25.1% stake in Roboception GmbH, a developer of 3D sensing products, as part of a strategic investment and capital increase.
As Basler (Ahrensburg, Germany) CFO/COO Hardy Mehl explains, "We are convinced that intelligent 3D vision solutions will make a decisive contribution to the further development of Industry 4.0. With this investment, Basler is further expanding its cooperation with Roboception and, together with well-known co-shareholders—in addition to the company founders, Henrik Schunk Beteiligungen GmbH (Neckar, Germany) and KUKA Deutschland GmbH (Augsburg, Germany) are also involved—is supporting the powerful further development of Roboception's 3D vision technology for customers in areas such as factory automation and logistics."
Founded in 2015, Roboception (Munich, Germany) develops 3D stereo image sensors and software to allow both stationary and mobile robotic systems to perceive their environment, supporting such operations as object recognition, bin picking, navigation, and machine tending.
Related: Solving Interoperability Challenges to Integrate Robotics into Factory Work Cells
In a news release, Basler says that it has been working with Roboception since 2021 on “the development of 3D imaging processing solutions that enable robotic systems to reliably perceive and analyze their environment.”
In January, Roboception launched the +Match extension for rc-reason BoxPick software. When combined, they support the detection and identification of multiple rectangles that look identical.
Roboception’s most recently launched camera product (November 2023) is the rc_visard NG, which is based on the NVIDIA Jetson Orin embedded AI solution. It is an updated version of the company’s rc_visard 3D camera. Both platforms have onboard software and web interface and are designed for users without prior experience in machine vision.
Related: 3D Imaging's Scope Continues to Expand
For its part, Basler in March launched five models of its version of the visard camera. In a news release announcing the camera series, Sebastian von Holdt, Head of Product Management 3D Image Acquisition at Basler, explains, "The expansion of Basler's 3D Vision portfolio is an important step to support our customers and a necessary response to the many challenges in the robot-based automation of their processes. The close cooperation with our partner Roboception enables our customers to deploy intelligent stereo solutions that stand out due to their unique user-friendliness, making the implementation of vision-guided robotic applications possible for a wide range of customers."
Linda Wilson | Editor in Chief
Linda Wilson joined the team at Vision Systems Design in 2022. She has more than 25 years of experience in B2B publishing and has written for numerous publications, including Modern Healthcare, InformationWeek, Computerworld, Health Data Management, and many others. Before joining VSD, she was the senior editor at Medical Laboratory Observer, a sister publication to VSD.