Machine Vision in Industry 4.0

Abstract

Machine vision is a comprehensive set of sophisticated technologies that develop capabilities in machines to make them self-aware and intelligent to get the visual representation of the surroundings. Innovations in machine vision, deep learning and robotics are revolutionising production lines and supply chains. Machine vision opens up new ways of automation and digitalisation in Industry 4.0 environment and the integration of this with robotics empowers intelligent decision-making abilities in the field of smart design and production. If it is tuned with smart machines, then the system is able to learn from its environment and takes corrective actions to optimise production. With these machine vision solutions, the organisations become proficient to evaluate, inspect, track and trace products. Industry 4.0 evolves emerging innovations in data exchange and industrial automation, resulted increment in productivity, reduction in waste and operating costs and refinement in product quality with greater flexibility. Industry 4.0 with machine vision competencies reveals tremendous developments in automation with self-learning, self-controlling and self-optimising abilities of equipment to get real and measurable improvements in operational performance. This is the heart of Industry 4.0, a new manufacturing paradigm. Sensors guide and communicate with collaborative robots that work safely alongside humans. Real-time-monitoring capabilities anticipate and accommodate the changes and adjust based on incoming data. Nowadays, machine vision technologies are used in various sectors, i.e., manufacturing, health care, education, design and services for digitising the industries, integrating and connecting value chains, inspection, detection, segmentation and recognition of objects. Therefore, there is vital need to know current trends, applications and advancements in these tools/technologies. In recent years, the companies are shifting toward customised production by implementing Industry 4.0 technologies in their operations, and this transformation is leaving new challenges and opportunities for machine vision system. In future, the firms are expecting to come with more advanced machine vision systems with strong artificial intelligence (AI) and powerful data management techniques. This chapter covers the role of machine vision systems for Industry 4.0 with applications, challenges and future directions.