Time pieces

The Antikythera Mechanism spent 2000 years underwater, buried in the hold of a Greek ship that sank off the coast of Crete in the eastern Mediterranean. It was hauled to the surface by sponge divers, who found the wreck in 1900, and put in the National Archeological Museum in Athens. Since then, the shoe-box-sized hunk of bronze has been at the center of many attempts to explain its workings and purpose.

Although badly corroded and encrusted with barnacles and calcium, it was clear from the beginning that the Mechanism contained an elaborate set of gears, dials, and inscriptions. Reluctant to accept just how sophisticated ancient Greek technology was, many decades passed before archeologists and scientists recognized the truth about the Mechanism-it was an advanced astronomy computer capable of reproducing in detail the movements of the Sun, moon, and planets. Only in the last two years have the full internal workings of the Mechanism been revealed by 3-D x-ray imaging made possible by the Bladerunner, a prototype 8-ton CAT-scan machine intended to inspect airplane turbine blades.

Bladerunner was developed by X-Tek Systems, a British company that also plays a key role in the development of an advanced PCB inspection system described in our Spotlight on Market Opportunities feature this issue. The system is the result of a collaboration of several companies and institutes and, in addition to x-ray imaging, incorporates automated optical inspection, infrared imaging, and acoustic microscopy. Ian Nicholson, project scientist at the TWI Technology Centre in Port Talbot, UK, explains how combining multiple imaging modalities can be used to solve myriad problems in the electronics industries.

Of course, not all machine-vision systems require such sophisticated image-processing techniques. These systems may not combine multiple imaging modalities, but system developers must still integrate imaging components with external devices such as robots, PLCs, and high-speed computer systems to build fully automated systems. In Belgium, for example, engineers at the ACRO Institute have developed a robotic apple harvester built on a platform mounted behind a tractor, as described in an article by contributing editor Winn Hardin.

In similar fashion, other articles in this issue show the range of system-integration expertise that is typical of engineers and developers in the machine-vision industry. Color measurement, as discussed in an article by editor Andy Wilson, is a challenge being met by FireWire cameras and spectrometers. Inspection of hygienic consumer products is a challenge being met by an innovative high-speed vision system described by Martin Balog of Datalan. And, as our cover story by Andy Wilson shows, advanced optical design and image processing have enable FullView to build a panoramic camera system that improves surveillance and security systems.

With such inventiveness, it may not be so difficult for today’s engineers and integrators of machine-vision technology to believe that the ancient Greeks could build a computer.

W. Conard Holton
Editor in Chief
[email protected]