Automobile manufacturer signs follow-on order for 3-D guidance vision systems
MAY 24--One of Detroit's "Big 3" automakers has issued a follow-on order for the ISRA Vision (Lansing, MI; www.isravision.com) newest 3-D machine-vision system, the MONO3D single-camera 3-D machine-vision system, bringing the total number of MONO3D systems for powertrain applications at this location to 24. The follow-on order was in response to a successful pilot demonstration of a precision robot guidance application in a powertrain assembly line.
Robot-guidance applications are among the most demanding applications for a computer-based automated vision system because they require nearly instantaneous, high spatial resolution in three dimensions, with up to six degrees of freedom. 3-D vision systems for robot guidance systems often require the most expensive and complex 3-D vision-system technology, mandating multiple cameras to triangulate a point in 3-D space with high accuracy, or expensive and potentially dangerous laser scanning systems. Also, because of the size of laser-based and multicamera 3-D machine-vision systems, the integrator often has to mount the illumination systems and cameras off the robot arm, limiting the system's accuracy for robot guidance just as if someone next to you were guiding your hand rather than using your own eyes. The only other solution is spending more on a robot arm to handle the additional mass of the vision system or slowing down the workcell to accommodate the momentum created by mounting the vision system directly on the robot.
In response to customer needs, ISRA Vision has developed MONO3D, a smaller, cost-effective robot-mounted 3-D guidance vision system that delivers the same spatial resolution across a larger field of view than most laser-based vision systems and in a considerably smaller footprint than multicamera solutions. The single-camera setup also can result in faster throughput than conventional 3-D machine-vision systems as a result of simplified hardware requirements and a high degree of flexibility--and all at a more cost-effective price.
MONO3D locates objects in 3-D space with six degrees of freedom, including position and orientation in all three axes, by locating and measuring the relationship between three user-selected features in single image. MONO3D can robustly and repetitively identify 3-D coordinates with the same precision as a multicamera or laser-scanning system, or if throughputs allow, exceed the spatial resolutions for most large-part 3-D vision systems by incorporating a virtually unlimited number of user-set image features into its 3-D calculations.
This flexibility has considerable advantages because it not only drastically reduces the outlay for equipment, but also the cost of installation, calibration, and operation by reducing the overall footprint of the workcell, robot requirements, and vision-system hardware expenditures.
