I NTERM EDI ATE Vol.

Machine Vision Academy

MA ST ER T HE L A T E S T A PPLI C A T I ON T E C H NI QU ES
Introduction
Are you interested in image processing (inspection using a camera)?
Have you thought about automating the visual inspections conducted on your production line?
Have you considered implementing a vision sensor, but given up because it seemed too difficult to use?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, this guide provides professional image processing solutions for factory automation.

INTERMEDIATE

Effects of a color camera and various pre-processing functions

4−1 Effects of a color camera

Inspection of a gold label attached to a cap

Image processed with Image processed with

Actual image a monochrome camera a color camera

A monochrome camera cannot A color camera can extract

extract the shape of the entire the shape of the entire label.
label.

As shown above, when the target is glossy and has a curved surface, a monochrome camera cannot process the
image in the same way as the human eye. This is because the brightness of the label is not uniform, as you can see in
the actual image.
With a color camera, however, it is possible to extract only the gold color of the label as shown in the rightmost image.
This is because a color camera processes an image using hue (color) data, instead of intensity (brightness) data
used by a monochrome camera.
 4−2 What is a color camera?
A color camera used in a vision system is generally a single-chip camera which contains a
single CCD. Since capturing a color image requires information involving three primary colors,
Red, Green, and Blue (R,G, and B), a color filter of R, G, or B is attached to each pixel of the
CCD. Each pixel sends the intensity information in 256 levels of R, G, or B to the controller.

CCD
(Charge Coupled Device)

Saturation Bright
Color system
A color system describes colors numerically. It is generally represented in 3D
Lightness
space with three axes. The HSB color system using three elements of Hue, Hue
Saturation, and Brightness, is the closest to the human eye and is best suited to
handle image processing.
Dark

4−3 Color binary processing

A color camera offers 16,777,216 levels of shade information (256 levels of R, G, and B individually). That is 80,000 times more
information than a monochrome camera (only 256 levels of gray). 'Color binary processing' is a function to extract only a
specified range from these 16.7 million levels.

Example 1 of color binary processing

Detecting broken green Only green in the winding Only green is extracted.
wire in a coil winding image is specified for Any broken wire can be
extraction and the image detected reliably.
is converted into a color
binary image.

Example 2 of color binary processing

Counting gold screws only Image processed with a monochrome camera

With a monochrome camera
image, it is impossible to
differentiate between gold
and silver, because there is
Actual image almost no difference in
brightness.

Image processed with a color camera

With a color camera image,
only gold screws can be
counted reliably. The color
extraction clearly shows a
difference between gold
and silver.

2
 4-4 Color shade processing
Current demand for vision systems used in high-speed production lines requires a processing time of one-hundredth of a
second. "Color shade-scale processing" is a pre-processing method developed to solve problems associated with the
tremendously long processing times of color cameras as well as noise interference from excessive information and inconsistent
illumination.

Color shade processing

Color shade-scale processing is a method to convert a
Image capturing Pre-processing Image processing color image with an enormous amount of data into a
256-level gray image by setting a specified color to be
Color Color Image the brightest level(white). Since images are processed
information shade-scale Filtering
processing
from CCD processing with not only brightness but also color information,
difficult applications, such as differentiation between
Color image Monochrome image gold and silver, are no longer a problem.

Example of color shade processing

Image processed with a Pale color patterns are not easily recognizable with
monochrome camera
conventional gray processing (as shown on the left). Color
shade-scale processing creates a gray image based on
color information, resulting in a clearly visible, strong gray
Actual image
image on a black background.
This method offers stable results for inspection of different
patterns or position deviation.
Image processed with a
color camera

4-5 Image optimization by camera gain adjustment

Camera gain adjustment is an effective method of color differentiation. By adjusting the gain of the individual components of R,
G, and B, a better contrast is obtained between close shades of the same color.

Example of camera gain adjustment

Differentiation of cap colors

Actual image Image after gain adjustment of R (red) data

The red color is shown more
vividly to ensure stable
differentiation.

3
 4−6 Other pre-processing methods
A vision system is equipped with a variety of pre-processing functions to optimize images according to their various applications.
These functions can be used for both monochrome and color images after color binary processing and color shade scale
processing have been applied.

１ Contrast conversion: Surface image adjusted to better detect flaws.

Example The influence of hairlines on the target
surface is eliminated to project flaws only.
Inspection of the flaws on
an iron plate surface

2 Expansion & shrink processing: Unnecessary projections are cleared and then the original
outline of the target is recovered.
Example

Inspection of defects on
the surface of rubber
products while ignoring
burrs

3 Real-time differential processing: A captured image is compared with a

registered image to extract only the differences.
* Only the flaw is extracted while the complicated shape of the target is ignored.
Real-time differential
Raw image processing image Image after multi-filtering
Example
Multi-filtering combines
Inspection of foreign several pre-processing
matter in connector methods in multiple
housing stages to create an
optimal image.
Black spot Black spot Black spot

Summary of INTERMEDIATE
The basics of image processing involve capturing a clear image.
A color camera enables extraction of color differences in much the same way as the human eye.
A variety of pre-processing filters are available to optimize image contrast according to the specific requirements of the
application.
Inspection stability will improve greatly when either color processing or pre-processing filters are properly applied to the
image.

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