Scorpion Vision is introducing ‘off the shelf’ AI-driven 3D vision technology for robots to the UK after signing a distribution agreement with Mech Mind.
Mech Mind’s new generation vision platform for robots combines superior 3D image capture capabilities with AI-powered deep learning. As well as streamlining the programming and integration of vision-guided robots, the ready-to-use solution unlocks new intelligence from robots, empowering them to tackle demanding vision applications. Mech Mind’s 3D+AI solution is ideal for a range of manufacturing and logistics applications, from bin picking to case packing, palletising and depalletising. It complements Scorpion Vision’s existing AI-enabled 3D Neural Vision technology which will continue to be used for more complex and challenging 3D vision applications, primarily in food processing.
Paul Wilson, managing director at Scorpion Vision, says: “There is a lot of talk about the potential of deep learning in a futuristic sense so it is really exciting to present to the marketplace an ‘off-the-shelf’ solution that makes AI-powered 3D vision readily accessible for industrial users. Many companies are deterred from exploring AI because they don’t fully understand it and worry that it will be complex. Mech Mind’s platform makes it really easy for systems integrators and designers of industrial automation to ‘train’ the robot while end users benefit from systems that are simpler to operate and make fewer mistakes.”
Mech Mind’s AI+3D vision bundle for robots combines high performance industrial cameras with intelligent platform software. Mech-Eye industrial cameras generate high resolution, detail-rich 3D images in the toughest of environments, thanks to their aluminium alloy shell design and electrically insulated camera housing. When this vision hardware is twinned with Mech Mind’s machine vision, robot programming and deep learning software architecture, users can quickly design automation applications. Machine builders can order both the cameras and software for Mech Mind’s AI+3D vision technology solution online from Scorpion Vision’s new web shop.
Overlaying AI and 3D vision dramatically reduces the amount of work needed to programme and integrate the robot; with the help of deep learning algorithms, the robot will rapidly learn what it has to do and can formulate its own conclusion about what it is seeing with its eyes (the 3D vision system). This drives efficiencies for the end user too, by making the AI-driven robot more accurate and repeatable.
The use of AI enables robots to cope with demanding applications such as recognition of overlapping objects and precision measurement. It also ensures reliable and stable performance in challenging illumination scenarios – involving shiny parts or variable lighting, for example. This advantage is playing out in the home appliances industry, where Mech Mind’s AI+3D solution is powering precise picking of black and reflective compressors and feeding of black machine foot pads – applications that require rapid recognition of uneven surfaces and complex structures. There are many other examples of the technology in action in different industries, from food & beverage packaging to automotive manufacturing.
Mech Mind’s technology gives machine builders and systems integrators an ‘out of the box’ solution that provides an AI-driven vision backbone for robots. For more complex automation applications, such as the processing of variable food products, Scorpion Vision can work directly with manufacturers to build from the ground up bespoke AI-powered 3D vision solutions based on Scorpion 3D Neural Stereo Vision.
