Development of a Vision-based Sorting Operation Laboratory: A Student Driven Project

摘要

There have been many examples of machine vision system implementation in engineering curricula. However, a few recent ones are noteworthy. Zhuang and Sudhakar developed an undergraduate machine vision laboratory under the sponsorship from National Science Foundation, Cognex Corporation, and Florida Atlantic University. This laboratory supported a 3-credit senior-level machine vision course called, Introduction to Machine Vision. Most of the laboratory experiments were design-oriented and open-ended. A more recent study proposed a comprehensive program to introduce vision technologies to manufacturing and mechanical engineering technology students at Oregon Institute of Technology. The study identified software and computer programming as the major barriers that keep manufacturing and mechanical engineering technology students from learning vision systems and their use in automated and robotic manufacturing applications. Thus, after collaborating with their computer science and software engineering counterparts, the project team took the approach of using introductory "canned" programs for providing basic functionality and tools while encouraging use of some libraries of "code" functionality found on manufacturer's web sites as well as user forums. Finally, pure development of applications was to be carried out with a variety of Applications Programing Interface (API) languages including Visual Basic, C++, C#, and others. Other notable vision projects focused on industrial applications such as "Implementing a Machine Vision System for Robotic Application" by Yeh and Hammond where Wayne State University completed a project for Applied Manufacturing Technologies Inc. Their paper described the details of an industrially sponsored student vision project at Wayne State for a robot to pick up car wheels from the conveyer line and place them accurately into the drop-off fixture. In a similar effort to generate interest within their own program and from local industries, The Department of Technology at Northern Illinois University responded to strength its curriculum by adding new relevant areas in its automation courses such as machine vision. Within NIU's automation course, basics principles of vision are covered, including camera systems, basic optics, lighting, and image capturing and processing. A key component in this section of their automation course is the hands-on experience where student teams use and apply the vision systems hardware and software in an automated work-cell. In addition, the students are taught the principles of vision integration with other control devices, such as Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) and robots.