In piece picking and parcel induction, automation has proven to be hard for machine vision. Numerous items with different shapes, sizes, and materials present grave challenges to accurate recognition and positioning. Transparent and translucent objects are among the most challenging ones.
Why is it complex to image transparent objects?
Although evolving 3D imaging technologies have handled many demanding items, yet shiny, plastic, and transparent objects have long been considered invisible for 3D cameras or sensors. So, why is it hard?
The answer is the unique optical property of transparent items. With glossy, reflective surfaces and clear packaging, transparent objects make some light go through the surfaces and some bounce back in unpredictable directions. The small amount of projected light bouncing off makes a 3D reconstruction impossible for 3D scanners. The light reflection will cause lots of noise and missing surface data, making reading from the 3D camera unreliable. Such unstable 3D representation, without doubt, will lead to inaccurate recognition of targets and impact robot operation. Moreover, the light bouncing off clear, glossy surfaces may degrade the scanning of other objects.
Facing the challenge, we offer you the Mech-Eye PRO industrial 3D cameras, whose imaging capabilities have been extended to see almost everything, even transparent and translucent objects.
Mech-Eye PRO industrial 3D cameras make the impossible possible.
The Mech-Eye PRO 3D vision cameras can create clean, complete, and detail-rich point clouds at a fast speed. In the new release of SDK 2.2.1, we introduce the translucent mode to improve the depth map in 2D and 3D capture. The new feature allows the Mech-Eye PRO 3D cameras to see transparent items much more clearly than before, which redefines the 3D scanning of transparent objects and takes machine vision to the next level.
With the Mech-Eye PRO 3D camera, there are no floating points but smooth surfaces. As seen in the picture below, we have the point cloud coverage on the full SKUs, which enhances recognition accuracy and optimizes the cycle time.
Mech-Vision machine vision software also plays a pivotal role in the successful picking of clear objects. Driven by 3D matching and deep learning algorithms, the vision system can accurately identify various challenging clear targets, such as complex-shaped items, overlapping ones, and even those in hard-to-reach areas. It empowers the robot to pick transparent items with ease.
Clearly see medical items in the pharmaceutical industry
We have seen the benefits brought by industrial automation. Piece picking, parcel induction and other vision applications have been implemented in various industries to handle numerous objects. Large volumes of transparent ones have affected the automation efficiency so that 3D imaging of transparent materials is increasingly important.
There are various transparent materials in the pharmaceutical industry, such as saline IV bags, blister packs, vials, ampoules, syringes, and products wrapped in clear plastic. Scanning clear materials makes a difference in the industry.
At a trade show, Mech-Mind Robotics showcased how robots stably picked clear saline IV bags. The Mech-Eye PRO S industrial 3D camera captures detailed and complete 3D data of transparent bags and Mech-Vision machine vision software allows the robot to accurately pick the overlapping bags and even those stacked in the corner.
Fast scan transparent and other challenging objects in retail and logistics
Many transparent and semi-transparent materials in retail and logistics, such as plastics, polybags, shrink-wrap, and bubble wrap, were also considered impossible to clearly capture in 3D. But Mech-Eye PRO’s impressive ability to see clear, glossy items makes it a perfect fit for multi-SKU piece picking and parcel induction in retail and logistics.
Mech-Mind’s powerful pre-trained AI supermodels that iterate based on 30,000+ data images allow the robot to pick almost anything. The transparent, irregular-shaped, or overlapping, randomly piled is no more a struggle for 3D scanners. Mech-Mind’s vision solutions will help you tackle complex situations and greatly increase work efficiency in piece picking and parcel induction applications. In most cases, 1,600 pieces of different SKUs are processed per hour at each workstation.
Have you ever been bothered by transparent objects or numerous different SKUs? Do you want higher production efficiency?
Let us know about your project. Or if you want to know more details, please reach out to info@mech-mind.net.