Frequently Asked Questions
Clarity for Every Vision Challenge
What is Industrial Eye LLC's core technology?
Machine vision. New system development or existing system optimization/upgrades. Cognex and others.
How does your technology improve factory operations?
Yes! In the broadest sense, machine vision itself is central, in all its flavors and variations, to factory operations. Machine vision systems, by definition, monitor and provide control for critical process variables. Then, within that definition, Industrial Eye optimizes the effectiveness of vision systems to make the data and the decisions that come out of vision systems as accurate and reliable as possible.
What industries benefit from your solutions?
Primarily, the industries that benefit most directly from vision systems are regulated industries in highly competitive markets that make high volumes of high-value products with a significant risk of liability due to quality issues.
For example, golf ball manufacturers make high volumes of high-quality products (golf ball manufacturers use vision extensively). They are a good user. However, a manufacturer of autoinjector pens is subject to FDA requirements, and a faulty product could cause harm. They are a Great user.
How does AI differ from traditional machine vision?
AI in machine vision is commonly called “Deep Learning” (DL), which differs from traditional machine vision because DL uses a different approach that is less interactive. When properly applied, DL is very effective for certain applications.
Are all vision systems basically the same?
To the extent that they all use cameras, lenses, lights, and supporting electronics, they are similar. Most use their own software that performs tasks differently. They are also supported by service companies (integrators) that maintain vast expertise in certain industries.
This combination of hardware, software, and expertise gives vision customers a way to sort through the competition and find the best fit.
Is training offered?
Industrial Eye offers extensive training for Cognex InSight products.
Do you offer customer support for your products?
Optimization/upgrades of existing systems is a big part of the Industrial Eye footprint.
Can your system be customized for specific needs?
There are four main types of vision systems:
- Guidance: which is giving positional data to robots.
- Identification: which is reading codes and characters.
- Gaging: which is a precise non-contact measurement.
- Inspection: which is the assurance that what should be there is there and what shouldn’t be, isn’t.
Each vision system is customized, even ones that are on otherwise identical manufacturing lines in the same plant, so they give true responses.
What are the installation requirements for your technology?
There are several…
Typically, a vision system uses its own lighting to overwhelm the variability of room lighting. Then, the camera and lighting must be held in position by some framework. The part that is to be analyzed must be conveyed and held in a known way to make the desired analysis. There are other application-specific requirements, but that is beyond the scope of this entry.
What kind of data security measures are in place?
Typically, interaction is passworded and in in some regulated industries (FDA) there ware specific data integrity requirements that cause the system to record every interaction in a secure audit trail document that becomes a legal document that shows all interaction was done within the rules.
How to improve a disappointing system?
In all cases, one must start with a good image. That means, the part must be lit so it repeatedly makes the feature of interest on the part clearly stand apart from the background or other optical ‘noise’. After that, necessary improvements must be made to other dependent aspects, like fixturing, vision tools, mathematical calculations, Pass/fail logic, and the user’s interface to the system. All these changes must be made with consideration for effectiveness and available time, especially in high-speed manufacturing.
Which industries does I.E. work in?
Typically, Industrial Eye works with high-volume, high-value products in regulated industries where the use of machine vision is an obvious innovation and worth the cost/support efforts.
