© 2006 MVTec Software GmbH Press Colloquium Part II Building Technology for the Customer’s Advantage

© 2006 MVTec Software GmbH

Press Colloquium Part II

Building Technology for the

Customer’s Advantage


Information Sources for Innovation

Customer Knows about the requirements of the application

Distributor Good knowledge about their customers and the (local) market

Research For new technologies long term research is important

Market development The markets change due to many influence factors, like labor and

production cost, product demands, or “fashion” and trends

Technology development New technologies, mainly from other industries, highly influences the

vision market Examples are: USB2, Ethernet, IEEE1394, MMX, SSE, Dual Core, 64 bit

technology


Basis for Innovation

Developers Highly skilled engineers Good “mixture” engineers

Application: Understand and deal with the requirements on the factory floor

Engineering: Incorporate smooth interaction of all components, from illumination to image acquisition

Algorithm: Make best use of mathematics combined with computer science

Low level: Speed up the algorithms with, e.g., MMX and SSE Smoothly cooperating team Big development team

Research Close cooperation with universities and research institutes Participation in conferences Close review of latest scientific publications


Good is Not Good Enough

Development is much more than introducing new operators The existing code has continuously to be improved Examples for this are

Speed An operator can always be faster Computers are getting faster but the requirements of the

applications increase more rapidly Many applications require low power consumption and therefore

slow computers Robustness

Typical technologies where the robustness has continuously to be improved are shape-based matching, measurement, classification, 1D and 2D code reading

Accuracy Besides an optimal measurement algorithm the calibration is crucial There are multiple components with distortions that have to be

compensated


Transfer: Technology for the Customer

The focus of research highly differs from needs of the machine vision market

Feasibility Restricted test data Many parameters

Our focus is on Ease of use Robustness Accuracy Speed Flexibility Applicable to a wide range of applications Explained using terms of the users


Example: Data Code Reader (ECC200)


Example: Data Code Reader (ECC200)

Development Filter for noise suppression Filter image restoration Robust segmentation Methods for automatic illumination correction Methods for data analysis Methods for automatic parameter estimation Efficient search algorithms

Realization Automatic learning of parameters from samples images Robust universal parameters Intuitive user interface Intuitive and flexible programming interface


Customer Support

Visiting the customers Machine vision software you (still) cannot buy from the catalogue Consulting is very important

Support Much more than helping with technical problems Example: Free evaluation of customer applications

Seminars Information about latest technologies Presentation of applications and solution Exchange of information between customers

Training courses Integrated training concept From introductory courses up to customer specific courses

MVTec Vision Kit


What is MVTec Vision Kit?

Hands on Machine Vision The practice of machine vision in a handy case Easy-to-use programs Practice-oriented applications


The Customer Must be Well Informed

Machine vision is characterized by a continuous development of new methods and thus new possibilities

Old technologies become usable due to new algorithms of new hardware

Many customers are frustrated because they tried machine vision with inferior products – and thus failed

Useful technologies, known to insiders, are often not known to the large machine vision community

Some customers have no experience with machine vision at all and need good support on multiple levels


Benefits for the Customer

Easy development Reduce development costs Quick time to market

Support of latest technologies Save money on components, e.g., USB2 camera Approach new markets with new algorithms Competitive with faster hardware, e.g., 64 bit

Integrated support Quickly understand the problems and the solution Reduced product study time

Ease of use Attractive products due to few or no machine vision parameters

High accuracy Extend beyond the present limitations of technologies

Documents

© 2006 MVTec Software GmbH Press Colloquium Part II Building Technology for the Customer’s Advantage