JUNE 17--Cognex Corporation (Natick, MA; www.cognex.com), a supplier of machine vision systems, has announced that one of the world's largest cosmetic manufacturers has selected Cognex machine vision to verify date and lot codes on products such as mascara, lipstick, and nail polish during manufacturing. The codes are used to identify products for quality assurance and to track their manufacturing history.
Accurately verifying these codes has posed a problem for the customer because the character strings are often printed using inkjet or laser marking systems on curved surfaces, which can distort the characters and make them difficult to read. To solve the problem, Cognex developed machine-vision software that can verify a variety of character fonts with high accuracy on both flat and curved surfaces, even when characters are distorted due to variations that can occur in the printing process.
"This application presented a tough, but exciting, challenge," said Lei Wang, manager of the Cognex Vision Solutions Group, which developed the technology for the project. "Our team was able to design software that accurately corrects for skew, blur, character movement, and poor contrast--all characteristics that can cause poor results. At the same time, the system is so easy to use that the daily setup can be completed by a line operator in less than one minute."
"Because our Vision Solutions team was able to solve this difficult problem, our customer can accurately identify all of their products during manufacturing," said James Hoffmaster, Cognex COO. "This technology will benefit not only this first customer, but also many other manufacturers who require reliable product identification under difficult circumstances."
