Scorpion Uses Spy Cameras for Machine Vision

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Tordivel AS of Oslo have today announced support for Sony Network Cameras, specifically the SNC-CS20 and SNC-CM120 models. These cameras offer additional functionality to that of standard machine vision cameras that will be of interest to robot vision engineers (for example).

Network, or IP cameras are more traditionally used in remote CCTV monitoring for security purposes. Until now, there has been relatively small crossover from the world of security to the high performance world of machine vision where constants are critical. There are exceptions of course but these are mainly related to that of automatic number plate recognition systems, or ANPR.

Machine vision systems that are measuring continuously and feeding back live data or making pass/fail decisions based on pre-determined tolerances require, it could be argued, higher specification devices than are available to the CCTV market. A fundamental consideration for in-line machine vision systems is the control of illumination. Fluctuating light can make the pixel values in an image change and cause false or inaccurate readings. A badly implemented vision system can be troublesome if these constants aren’t achieved. Good clear images with perfect illumination is in fact the foundation on which the building blocks of machine vision systems are cemented.

With the latest Scorpion machine vision software, certain benefits of the CCTV world are brought into the machine vision world. The Sony network camera with built-in auto-iris and auto-focus can minimise the impact of varying light. Scorpion Vision Software can exploit this fact and so this is a compelling package for some machine vision applications.

One of the first deployments has been a robot guidance system. The camera is mounted on the robot arm so the robot can ‘see’ and as the robot moves from point to point, the camera makes an adjustment for light before Scorpion takes an image. There are other benefits too – some IP cameras are wireless, so cable runs are minimised. The IP cameras also compress the images better than higher spec industrial cameras, this is better for wireless transmission and not necessarily a disadvantage in robot pick and place systems.

Scorpion Vision Ltd is the UK subsidiary of Tordivel AS, the company behind Scorpion Vision Software. Scorpion Vision Software is a general purpose machine vision platform that runs on Microsoft Windows.