Precise measurement using machine vision

The Robotics Academy was commissioned to investigate further the potential of machine vision for Neorem Magnets’ needs. Atte Ali-Hokka and Juha Aalto were involved in the project in the Robotics Academy team. The project was directed by Joonas Kortelainen. The task of the team was to investigate the possibility to measure the object delivered by the company with a machine vision camera in the Satakunta University of Applied Sciences’ RoboAI collaborative laboratory.

The customer wanted to study the technical dimensions and quality of the object as accurately and reliably as possible. The project used an IDS camera that captures the subject in very high resolution. The team implemented the program in Halcon development environment that meets the customer’s requirements. The group had no previous experience with machine vision, but the Academy students were happy to take up the challenge.

The client was particularly interested in exploring the possibilities of measuring and examining the area of the object and its formal correctness compared to the technical drawings provided by the company. The students had no previous experience in creating such a program so students went on to study the measurement of the object by creating a program that can measure the length, angles of sides and perimeter of the object.

As the team learned about the new object an image was created in the real world coordinate system allowing the size of the object to be measured in millimeters. This development step opened the doors for the working group to a whole new way of measuring, as it was now possible to compare the image to the technical drawings provided by the customer to the working group.

Summary:

The customer seemed satisfied with the results achieved by the working group. The students and the client felt that both parties had benefited from the project. For students, this benefit is reflected in the amount of learning that students gained from working on the project with a great deal of machine vision, as well as camera, lighting, and programming techniques. The Robotics Academy would like to thank Neorem Magnets for taking the opportunity to explore their expertise and provide an interesting project.