Machine vision offers considerable benefits for logistics, assembly, manufacturing, and many other applications. However, the initial cost can seem steep for some small businesses. They might need a less expensive solution or at least get a sense of the value it offers before making such a large investment.
For these situations, FOVEOS offers our mobile vision systems app. This app utilizes the imaging and processing power of your smartphone to perform many of the tasks that a complete machine vision system would perform. It won’t do everything a dedicated machine vision system can, but it often does enough for some businesses. Other times, it serves as an affordable way to get a “proof of concept” that shows the value of investing in a full machine vision system.
While it’s not a full machine vision system, you can use mobile vision systems to perform many similar tasks, including:
These powerful app functions can dramatically improve the operation of your logistics, assembly, or manufacturing operations.
Complex inspection lets your mobile vision system perform defect detection, functional verification, and contamination detection tasks.
Defect detection means having the machine look for defects in a given item. Tell it what defects you are looking for (scratches, discoloration, dents, etc.), then let the phone look at it from all angles, and it will tell you if there are any defects.
Functional verification means ensuring a component or product works as it should. The mobile vision app lets your phone verify a product is working in ways that might be hard for a human to confirm, such as making sure the light from a flashlight is the right color, the right intensity, and steady.
Contamination detection means that the app looks at a product for anything it can see that might not belong there, such as a piece of glass on a plate of cookies or even a cookie of the wrong type on the plate.
Pattern matching and recognition lets the mobile vision system identify when packaging is printing correctly and contains all the necessary markings. This helps ensure all legally required warnings and information are included. It also lets the phone look at a part and verify that it’s been put together correctly.
OCR lets your phone automatically read and input data that’s on a package. This can be used for data entry, rather than having employees type in data, which is slow and prone to error.
In addition, OCR lets mobile vision systems verify text on an item. You can make sure the serial number is right, ensure the address is printed correctly, or that the product exactly matches an order or stock number.
Instead of having a dedicated barcode reader, it often makes sense to use a barcode reader included in the mobile vision system app. This makes it easy to supply workers on an assembly line, in a warehouse, or at a distribution center with barcode readers so they can work more quickly, efficiently, and accurately.
The mobile vision systems app also includes an advanced barcode reader that lets you take a picture of multiple barcodes at once. The app resolves and scans each one to save your employees’ time.
With this function, the mobile vision systems app can look at the liquid level in bottles on the assembly line. It can do this quickly, flagging any that are under- or overfilled.
Once you enter the specs for an item, the app will check to make sure it meets those specs. All you have to do is take a picture and the app will check to make sure the item is the right size, shape, and alignment for sending out.
When you are assembling kits that are supposed to include numerous different parts, it is easy for humans to miss one or two. However, with the mobile vision systems app, you simply take a picture of all the components. Then the app confirms the kit or package has all the necessary parts.
Counting all the parts in a group can take time and is prone to error, especially early in a shift or when an employee is rushing to get out. The mobile vision systems app can easily count all the components featured in an image. Just take a picture and it will do the counting for you.
If you have readouts, counters, or dials that aren’t integrated into your data systems, you might have assigned people to read these dials and input the numbers into your database. With mobile vision systems, you just take a picture of the gauge, and the software translates it into a number that it automatically puts into your database.
This works on dials, digital gauges, 7-segment displays, and more. You’ll not only save time, but you’ll get more accurate reading for analog dials.
At FOVEOS, we don’t believe your business should be limited by off-the-shelf solutions, so we are always prepared to customize our products, including adding more functionality to our software. Let us know what you want the software to do, and we will figure out how to do it.
Typically, an app comes with little or no meaningful support from its programmer. However, at FOVEOS, we believe in always taking time to make sure our customers get the best value from mobile vision systems with our Adaptive Systems Approach™.
With this approach, we start by listening to your current procedures and goals for future operations. Then we will help you understand the functions of the mobile vision systems and how they can help you achieve the goals you want to achieve. We will even let you know if this is not the right choice for you, and if you might benefit more from a machine vision system. On the other hand, we will consider whether a custom application might do the trick, and then deploy our custom engineering capabilities to achieve the functionality you want.
To learn how mobile vision systems can solve problems at your operation, please contact FOVEOS today to speak to a machine vision expert.