Machine Vision Introduetion\~ ‘Machine vision (other names include computer vision and artificial vision) is an portant sensor technology with potential applications in many industrial operations. Many of the current applications of machine vision are in inspection; however, it is anticipated that vision technology will play an increasingly significant role in the future of roboti Vision systems designed to be utilized with robot or manufacturing tems must meet two important criteria which currently limit the influx of vision systems to the manufacturing community. The first of these criteria is the need for a relatively low-cost vision system. The second criterion is the need for relatively rapid response time needed for robot or manufacturing applications, which should be typically a fraction of a second. Nevertheless, there has been a significant influx of vision systems into the manufacturing world. The systems are used to perform tasks which include selecting parts that are randomly oriented from a bin or conveyer, parts identification, and limited inspection. These capabilities are selectively used in traditional applications to reduce the cost of part and tool fixturing, and to allow the robot program to test for and adapt to limited variations in the environment. Advances in vision technology for robotics are expected to broaden the capabilities of robotic vision systems to allow for vision-based guidance of the robot arm, complex inspection for close dimensional tolerances, and improved recognition and part location capabilities. These will result from the constantly reducing cost of computational capability, increased speed, and new and better algorithms currently being developed. Computer vision is a complex and multidiseiplinary field and is still in its early stages of development. Advances in vision technology and related disciplines are expected within the next decade which will permit applications not only in manufacturing, but also in photointerpretation, warehousing, robotic operations in hazardous environments, autonomous navigation, cartography, and medical image analysis. The purpose of this chapter is to explore the field of machine vision as a fundamental sensor technology in robotic:160 Industrial Robotics 7.1. INTRODUCTION TO MACHINE VISION Machine vision is concerned with the sensing of vision data of the camer and its interpretation bya and digitizing hardware, wy {0 interface them. This, computer. The typical vision system con: 4 digital computer, and hardware and software nec interface hardware and software is often referred to as a preprocessor. The operation of the vision system consists of three functions: 1. Sensing and digitizing image data 2. Image processing and analysis 3. Application The relationships between the three functions are illustrated in the diagram of Fig. 7.1 The sensing and digitizing functions involve the input of vision data by means of ‘a camera focused on the scene of interest. Special lighting techniques are frequently used to obtain an image of sufficient contrast for later processing. The image viewed by the camera is typically digitized and stored in computer memory. The digital image alled a frame of vision data, and is frequently captured by a hardware device called a frame grabber, These devices are capable of digitizing images at the rate of 30 frames per second. The frames consist of a matrix of data representing projections of the scene sensed by the camera. The elements of the matrix are called picture elements, ot pivels. The number of pixels are determined by a sampling process per- formed on each image frame. A single pixel is the projection of a small portion of the scene which reduces that portion to a single value, The value is measure of the light intensity for that element of the scene, Each pixel intensity is converted into a digital value, (We are ignoring the additional complexities involved in the operation of a color video camera.) We will examine the details of machine vision sensing in Sec. 7.2. ‘The digitized image matrix for each frame is stored and then subjected to image processing and analysis functions for data reduetion and interpretation of the image. ‘These steps are required in order to permit the real-time application of vision analysis required in robotic applications. Typically, an image frame will be thresholded to produce a binary image, and then various feature measurements will further reduce the data representation of the image. This data reduction can change the representation ofa frame from several hundred thousand bytes of raw image data to several hundred bytes of feature value data. The resultant feature data can be analyzed in the available time for action by the robot system.161 Machine Vision sa tpasie 90 \ tanypyeus apedusay = sonbrunyao1 010 = ‘uomtutooa1 199/90, ‘suoidupsoqt ~ yeux auntog inoaiap a3pa ~ Suni] Yoeqnuory - uyssard uortay - Bungay sNOWvorday ‘Buupyoyssuy, - snqqea? aun a8e2038 anv Uwoncquoutog SANOINHOSL uojsia,u0s reus TWOIAL Lwo}si9Atiog [ous viva sv 4 SNOLLVOMIddW IL ONISSAIOWd JOVIAL IL NIZLLIOIG UNV ONISNAS I NOMONN ROG] [FTO Fan Hy vi Ta RIVA, fojronu09| oisvD) nay Fig. 7.1 Fumetions of a machine vision system. Various techniques to compute the feature values can be programmed into the computer to obtain feature descriptors of the image which are matched against previously computed values stored in the computer. These descriptors include shape