Machine Vision

Andrew Bodkin, founder of Bodkin Design & Engineering, shares a technical overview of the process of machine vision sensing based on his 30 years of experience in electro-optics, custom engineering, and understanding of optical phenomenology. As the machine vision market expands and innovations become more affordable, choosing the right spectral camera or custom solution can be both exciting and overwhelming. With attention to solution-based problem-solving, Bodkin explores how to narrow in on a specific dilemma within a business’s quality control process and select the correct components for machine control.

He presents an outline of machine vision techniques and shares how to identify the features common to most systems. This includes selecting focal planes and lenses to match the application. Lens selection requires consideration of the focal length, f-number, spatial resolution, depth of focus, telecentricity, and uniformity. Finally, focal plane array selection includes aspects of pitch, pixel count, filtering, readout sequence, bit depth, well depth, integration time, and dynamic range.