Mini colour vision system has superior inspection capability

Mini colour vision system has superior inspection capability

Mini colour vision system has superior inspection capability

Keywords Colour, Machine vision

Including 3m of cable the Keyence CV-030 colour vision camera weighs only 330g and measures only 30 x 30 x 63.5mm (see Plate 7). Its controller, only slightly heavier at 360g, measures a mere 90 x 134 x 56.5mm. A hand-held remote control console and a TFT colour monitor complete the CV-301 compact colour vision system. These facts fully justify its manufacturer's claim that this really is the world's smallest colour vision system. Yet, despite its small size, it is crammed with features ­ not least of which is its competitive price ­ that make it the ideal tool for industrial recognition systems.

Plate 7 Keyence CV-030

A major benefit is its almost instantaneous "point-and-click" set-up routine. With the image on screen the operator uses the hand-held remote control console to position the cursor on the colour of interest. One click establishes that colour precisely in the instrument's memory. A zoom function facilitates accurate positioning of the cursor. The screen area outside the window is displayed in black and white for clear differentiation

As many as eight windows can be set in one programme to identify different colours and up to 16 programmes can be stored.

Similar colours such as green or blue and slight nuances in shade, such as dark blue on a black background or yellow on white, difficult or impossible to differentiate in monochrome, are easily differentiated by colour image processing. Furthermore, variations of background colour that with monochrome require frequent system changes, present no problem to the CV-301 which identifies only the specified colour.

Images of fast moving targets can be reliably captured at the same position on the monitor screen using a built-in synchronising shutter function, and any brightness fluctuations or external light interference are automatically compensated. The deviation of moving targets is corrected on screen by a position adjustment function.

Data can be stored in, and retrieved from, a PC via the built-in RS232C interface, and alarms and indicators can also be included in the system.

For further information contact Keyence UK Limited, 504-510 Elder House, Station Square, Elder Gate, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire MK9 1LR, UK. Tel: +44 (0)1908 696900; Fax: +44 (0)1908 696777.