One of the most commonly overlooked aspects of machine vision solutions is lighting control. If proper care is not taken in selecting the correct light source and accounting for variables such as ambient light and the type of material or geometry of the object of interest, it can lead to poor contrast and an inefficient inspection. When designing a robust machine vision application, it is important to use proper lighting techniques to achieve the best possible contrast. This allows for the most accurate image processing possible, since details of the object under inspection can often only be revealed using proper lighting. When selecting the proper lighting equipment for a machine vision system, there are many important factors to consider.
The shape, material, and geometry of the object of interest play a large role in what type of lighting equipment to consider. Many aspects of the inspection system must also be considered, such as the camera sensor characteristics, ambient light conditions, and types of lenses used. All of these factors must be matched so that the details in the object under inspection can be best brought out. This application note discusses considerations when selecting lighting equipment and demonstrates how to utilize the Direct Drive lighting controller feature on the NI 17xx Smart Camera with LabVIEW or Vision Builder for Automated Inspection. Click here to download whitepaper
