ASSEMBLY PACKAGING

Barcode Reading
Inspection Challenge: Identifying products that fail inspection by their barcodes during an inline inspection.

Solution: Barcodes can identify the production line on which a part was assembled. Use IMAQ Vision to inspect products for defects and simultaneously read their barcode labels as the products travel down a conveyor. Then, use the barcode information to trace defective parts back to their production lines so you can fix the process. Benefit: IMAQ Vision's barcode functions allow you to leverage your vision system to identify defective parts while performing an automated optical inspection of manufactured goods. You can easily track the source of production flaws and fix the process, thus improving your overall productivity.

Label Inspection
Inspection Challenge: Inspect the positioning of labels on containers.

Solution: Use IMAQ Vision edge detection tools to locate the edges of the top of the label at the two ends of the label. Then measure the distance between the top of the two ends of the label. If the distance is below a set tolerance, the product passes cosmetic inspection. Benefit: By constantly monitoring the label placement, you can detect a positioning drift quickly and avoid rejecting large quantities of products. You can ensure that labels are present and look professionally placed, resulting in a more attractive product.

Mechanical Assembly

Inspection Challenge: Ensuring that a rivet is correctly inserted into a fixture.

Solution: Use IMAQ Vision edge detection to inspect whether a rivet is present and inserted within a bracket correctly. IMAQ Vision detects the presence of the rivet along three inspection lines. If the software does not detect the expected number of edges per inspection line, the rivet is not properly inserted and the part fails inspection. Benefit: Easy-to-use IMAQ Vision functions allow you to check for the presence or absence of parts at various stages of your assembly or packaging process. You can increase the yield of your process by identifying defective parts early in the production stage.

AUTOMOTIVE
Battery Clamp Inspection

Inspection Challenge: Ensuring that a battery clamp is machined correctly and meets its mechanical specifications so it will fit on a battery terminal.

Solution: Use the IMAQ Vision spoke and clamp tools to measure the inner radius of the terminal spade and the gap between the clamp flanges, respectively. You can make these measurements regardless of the battery clamp's position in the image. If the measurements meet the specifications, the clamp passes inspection. An important aspect of making these measurements is ensuring that the spoke and clamp regions of inspection always encompass the terminal spade and the clamp flanges regardless of the battery clamp's location and orientation within the image. To do this, use the pattern matching-based coordinate system functions to define a reference coordinate system relative to the location of a unique feature on the battery clamp. In subsequent inspection images, the software locates the unique feature, updates the coordinate system based on the location of that feature, and moves the spoke and clamp regions of inspection to the area of the image containing the terminal spade and clamp flanges. Then, you can measure the features of the clamp. Benefit: IMAQ Vision can make measurements on a part regardless of the part's orientation in the image. In most cases, this benefit eliminates the need for a mechanical guidance system to align the parts, which reduces your costs.

Fuse Box Inspection

Inspection Challenge: Determining if all the color-coded fuses are present and in the right locations on fuse boxes.

Solution: This application uses color pattern matching to compare the color information at certain fuse sockets in the image with the fuse's expected color. Using a monochrome camera, the fuses you want to locate appear in the image with grayscale properties that are very difficult to characterize or that are very similar to other fuses in the search image. In such cases, grayscale pattern matching may not give accurate results because of similar grayscale intensities and the translucent nature of the fuses. However, fuses contain some color information that differentiates them from each other. IMAQ Vision can use the additional color information to precisely locate the objects. In many applications, color simplifies a monochrome problem by improving contrast or separation of the object from the background. Use the color pattern matching capability of IMAQ Vision to identify fuses by both their color and pattern. Benefit: Color pattern matching algorithms provide a quick way to locate objects when color is present. Taking advantage of the inherent color information helps improve the accuracy and reliability of the inspection.

Spark Plug Inspection

Inspection Challenge: Ensuring that the ground electrode of a spark plug is the correct distance from the center electrode.

Solution: Use IMAQ Vision edge detection to locate the gap between the electrodes and measure the width of the gap. The inspection image shows dark electrodes on a bright background. A vertical inspection line crosses the two electrodes. Use the points found on the edges (sharp transitions in pixel intensities) to measure the gap between the electrodes. Then, locate the top edge of the ground electrode, and measure the angle between the ground electrode and the horizontal axis. Benefit:

You can ensure that only spark plugs that fire correctly get shipped to consumers, ensuring higher quality and overall reliability.

BIOLOGY/MICROSCOPY

Cell Analysis
Inspection Challenge: Counting and analyzing cells.

Solution: The inspection image shows dark cells on a light background. Use IMAQ Vision filters to decrease the noise in the image and enhance the edges of the cells. Then, threshold the image to separate the cells from the rest of the image. Use blob analysis functions to locate, count, and number stained cells. Then, extract up to 49 different measurements about each blob, including area, center of mass, perimeter, longest segment, and orientation.

Benefit: You increase efficiency and reliability in the laboratory by automating cell counting.

Metal Particle Analysis

Inspection Challenge: Detect circular particles in a metal to analyze the structural stability of the metal.

Solution: The inspection image shows light particles on a dark background. Use a threshold function to isolate particles in the metal. Remove particles that touch the image border because their true shape is unknown. Use a particle filter to filter particles based on their shape characteristics. This example removes all noncircular particles. Lastly, use blob analysis to count and measure the circular particles. Benefit: You increase productivity by using image analysis to automate the inspection of a metal's structural integrity.

COMMUNICATION
Fiber Optic Inspection

Inspection Challenge: Inspecting a fiber for defects and uniform roundness.

Solution: Use multiple annulus-shaped regions of inspection to divide the fiber into concentric circles. Then, detect imperfections in the different circular regions using blob analysis. Find the edges of the fiber using the spoke function, and determine the best-fitting circle of the fiber to calculate its center and diameter. Measure the distances between the outer edge of the core and the outer edge of the cladding at each degree around the fiber to ensure that the fiber is cylindrical. Recording measurements in real-world units, such as microns, is important in fiber optic applications. National Instruments IMAQ Vision contains easy-to-use functions to calibrate your data so that image output and measurements are done in microns rather than pixels. Benefit: You can inspect fiber with repeatable results by automating the process with IMAQ Vision, thus ensuring the quality of the optical fiber produced.

Fiber Optic Alignment

Inspection Challenge: Aligning two optical fibers so they can be fused.

Solution: Optical components must be aligned with nanometer precision to achieve maximum performance. Until recently, precision alignment of optical components has been primarily based on manual methods. Now, you can automate fiber-to-fiber alignment and fiber-to-component alignment using National Instruments Vision, Motion, and Data Acquisition products. Use the IMAQ Vision clamp tool to measure the distance between the two fibers. Then, use Vision-guided Motion to coarsely align the fibers with micron precision very efficiently. When the fibers are coarsely aligned, begin measuring the light intensity flowing from the fibers using NI Data Acquisition products, and run a fine alignment algorithm based on the intensity measurements. NI's integrated technologies allow the system to measure the transmitted light intensity while the control algorithm continuously adjusts the fiber to the best alignment position. The fibers are perfectly aligned when the system measures a peak in the light intensity. Benefit: Automating fiber optic component alignment substantially improves both the quality and productivity of critical manufacturing operations, which contributes to the proper optical performance of assembled devices.

CONSUMER ELECTRONICS
LCD Reading

Inspection Challenge: Inspect the functionality of liquid crystal displays (LCDs) on pagers, dashboards, timers, and more.

Solution: Use IMAQ Vision to locate the digits of a seven-segment display, check the status of the segments, and interpret the results. Drive the display to show a set of known values and inspect to see if the device displayed the expected values. Benefit: You can use IMAQ Vision to test the functionality of displays on consumer goods during manufacturing test.

Meter Reading
Inspection Challenge: Finding the position of a meter needle to read the values of various instruments.

Solution: Use IMAQ Vision meter reading tools to read the position of a meter needle. These tools are useful in many applications, such as calibrating speedometers and gauges in the automotive industry. You can use National Instruments products to set up the value of the instrument via the CAN bus. Then use the IMAQ Vision meter reading tools to verify and adjust the position of the needle. Benefit: You can automate the process of calibrating gauges, ensuring the high quality and accuracy of your instruments.

Display Inspection
Inspection Challenge: Calibrate the intensity contrast of liquid crystal displays (LCDs) on PDAs.

Solution: The intensity contrast of manufactured displays integrated into PDAs varies from unit to unit. You can use IMAQ Vision in your test station to measure the intensity contrast. Use IMAQ Vision edge detection tools to locate all of the black and white regions of a checkerboard pattern displayed on an LCD. Then find the average intensity of both the black and white regions using the light meter tool. To determine whether the pixels in the display have enough contrast from the background, calculate the difference between the average black and white intensities. Benefit: You can ensure the consistency of the contrast on your consumer products that integrate LCD displays.

Display Panel Inspection

Inspection Challenge: Inspect the functionality of individual pixels on cellular phone and PDA color display panels.

Solution: Drive the panel to display a solid color, such as red, blue, or green. Use an IMAQ Vision color threshold to create a binary image in which only pixels that fail to light up appear as blobs. Then perform blob analysis on the image to locate and count the defective pixels. Benefit: You can make sure that individual pixels and symbols on your consumer electronics display panels light up as they should, ensuring the quality of your product.

PHARMACEUTICAL
Blister Pack Inspection

Inspection Challenge: Ensuring that blister packs contain the correct number and type of pills before they reach pharmacies.

Solution: Using the IMAQ PCI-1411 image acquisition device and a color camera, acquire color images of the blister packs. Then use IMAQ Vision color location to count the number of green areas in the image. With color location, you create a model or template that represents the colors that you are searching. Then the machine vision application searches for the model in each acquired image and calculates a score for each match. The surface area of each pill in the pack must be at least 50% green to pass inspection. Benefit: You ensure the integrity of the product and increase the yield of production by automating the inspection of blister pack contents.

Tablet Inspection
Inspection Challenge: Perform a cosmetic inspection by looking for discoloration on tablets.

Solution: Use a color threshold in Hue, Saturation, and Luminance (HSL) mode to detect discolored areas regardless of lighting fluctuation. The result of the color threshold is an image containing only the discolored areas of the tablets. Then count the number of defects using blob analysis. Benefit: You can prevent products with cosmetic defects from shipping to consumers, which helps assure consumers that they have purchased a high-quality product.

PROCESS INDUSTRY

Wood Inspection
Inspection Challenge: Finding nodes and other flaws in wood planks in order to classify the planks.

Solution: The inspection image show dark defects on a brighter plank. Use a lookup table to increase the contrast between the defects and the plank. Use an automatic threshold to separate the defects from the rest of the image. Then, determine the size and location of the defects using blob analysis. Classify the planks according to the results of the blob analysis. Benefit: You can automate wood plank classification according to the number, size, and distribution of defects. Automation makes the classification process more objective than human inspection.

SEMICONDUCTOR
PCB Inspection

Inspection Challenge: Ensuring that components are present and at the correct orientation on a PCB.

Solution: Use the IMAQ Vision color pattern matching tool to locate and determine the orientation of components on a PCB. Define a template of the valid components and look for instances of the template at expected locations on the PCB. Color information simplifies a monochrome problem by improving contrast or separation of the components from the background. Leveraging this color information, color pattern matching can distinguish objects from the background more efficiently than grayscale pattern matching. This example uses rotation-invariant pattern matching because it can detect the components regardless of their orientations. You can use the orientation information to determine the correct placement of orientation-sensitive components, such as capacitors or diodes. Benefit: Color pattern matching algorithms provide a quick way to locate objects when color is present. Taking advantage of the inherent color information helps improve the accuracy and reliability of the inspection.

Pins Inspection
Inspection Challenge: Determine if the connector pins on a Berg stick are straight and properly inserted.

Solution: Use IMAQ Vision edge detection to locate the edges of each pin through the top, middle, and bottom of the pins. If all three edges are located, the pin is present and properly inserted. Then use the IMAQ Vision analytic geometry functions to calculate the angle of the pins from the three edge points you found. If the angle falls within range, the pin is straight and the part passes inspection. Benefit: You can guaranty the quality of individual parts used in expensive, value-added products to prevent reworking the final assembly.