Machinery Update July / August 2020

32 MACHINERY UPDATE JULY/AUGUST 2020 www.machineryupdate.co.uk
Feature: Automation, robotics & vision systems
UKIVA members
believe vision can
help the bounce…
Even before the
pandemic, a general
economic downturn
had resulted in
machine vision sales
in Europe and the US flattening
out after many years of sustained
growth; and so the vision industry
will certainly not be exempt from
the current recession,” says Allan
Anderson, UKIVA chairman.
Nevertheless, he believes it could
bounce back very quickly as
it is in a prime position to help
many other industries with their
recoveries as they look to increase
levels of automation and improve
overall efficiencies.
In the UK, UKIVA members have
been weathering the storm, with
some projects being delayed (rather
than completely cancelled) while
others have been brought forward.
The key challenge is to develop
new business opportunities to fill
the gaps from postponed orders.
And this is where Anderson says
the vision industry is so well
positioned, with an extensive
range of established and versatile
technology already in use in
a variety of different industries
that can be readily adapted to meet
emerging requirements.
INFRARED IMAGING VALUE
A perfect example of this is the
use of infrared imaging to detect
elevated body temperature for
screening in high-traffic public
places. This is finding increasing
use as lockdowns are eased and
could be included as part of an
alternative strategy to the UK
quarantine regulations.
Many UKIVA members are
offering solutions in this area.
Machine vision can also open up
further opportunities for automation
across multiple industries using key
building blocks such as embedded
vision, deep learning and visionguided
robots. It is especially
important in areas which are
traditionally highly dependent on
people working closely together.
What future
post-COVID
Investing in the
currently available
vision-based
solutions such as
robotised meat
carcass handling
could provide a
solution to meet
further social
distancing rules
During the pandemic, we have
seen some businesses struggling
to re-open due to social distancing
requirements while in others virus
hotspots have arisen due to the
proximity of workers. One example
of this has been in meat and poultry
processing and packing plants
around the world, where large
COVID-19 clusters have occurred
in areas including the US, Canada,
Spain, Ireland, Brazil and Australia.
Investing in currently available
vision-based solutions such as
robotised meat carcass cutting
and deboning could provide a
solution. Machine vision can
also be used to determine fat/
muscle ratio in cutting processes
and the technology extended into
portioning systems such as bacon
slicers, to minimise giveaway.
Of course, there are also many
other well-established inspection
techniques available for use in
meat packaging applications.
In many industries, applications
can be labour intensive because
of the reliance on human
interpretation and action.
For example, in fruit and vegetable
harvesting, the crop must be
differentiated from surrounding
vegetation and the shape and
ripeness assessed for picking.
The use of deep learning methods
are making it possible for machine
vision systems to handle these
types of processes, greatly
extending the possibilities for
automation. The machine vision
industry may not boom again
straight away, but it is in a strong
position to be a technology that
helps spearhead any recovery.
W www.ukiva.org