An interactive atlas about global automation

If you manufacture automation equipment, including machine vision systems and robots, and you’re wondering where in the world to look for commercial growth opportunities, then you should review the Automation Atlas.

The Atlas shows the relative degree of automation in a country by showing the estimated number of robots per employees in processing industries. For more information and to use the Atlas, click here.



The Atlas was commissioned by the AUTOMATICA trade fair (held at Messe Munich, 7-11 June) and created by the statistical department of IFR - International Federation of Robotics, which is sponsoring the co-located ROBOTIK conference. The very interesting conference program is now available on the IFR website.

The IFR says only one-third of companies use automation technologies such as industrial robots or process-integrated quality control. For example, according to the Automation Atlas, countries in Eastern Europe employ relatively little automation technology--fewer than 50 industrial robots per 10,000 employees in the processing industry. The robot figure is only between 100 and 200 in Slovenia.

And globally there are clearly opportunities for growth in the pharmaceutical, cosmetics, and medical equipment industries, where the number of industrial robots in use is estimated to be fewer than 50 per 10,000 employees. In contrast, there are an estimated 400 to 700 robots for the same number of employees in the automobile industry.

Conard Holton, cholton@pennwell.com
Vision Systems Design

Riding the Bosphorus Express—Istanbul to Munich

For the 150 people attending the European Machine Vision Association Business Conference in Istanbul last week, the meeting began as a fascinating visit to a beautiful city with a rich history, but not one usually on the machine-vision meeting circuit.

As the presentations, market reports, networking, and boat cruise passed, the specter of “The Cloud” from the Icelandic volcano began to dominate everyone’s thinking. European airspace was shutting down as we took a scenic cruise up the Bosphorus past historic Dolmabahçe Palace:



By the last day of the conference--Saturday, April 17--it was clear that all plans to fly home were in jeopardy. I was able to fly out on Sunday because the flight was direct to New York’s JFK and we could skirt the southern edge of Europe.

However, my colleague and Vision Systems Design sales rep, Johann Bylek, had a different adventure on his way home to Munich.

Here is his report:

An unexpected adventure trip from Istanbul to Munich

After the EMVA conference in Istanbul most of the European attendees were not able to fly home because of the Icelandic volcanic ash cloud. Most European airports were closed and all flights cancelled. As a result, most people were stuck in Istanbul.

It was nearby impossible to connect with any airline since all telephone lines were overloaded. Rental cars and trains were sold out across Europe, and thousands of passengers were hanging around the airports.

A group of attendees--with special thanks to the “chief coordinator” Dr. Horst G. Heinol-Heikkinen (CEO, Asentics)—began discussing other possibilities to get home.

After many false leads, it was possible to find and hire a Bulgarian bus to drive to Istanbul and pick up a group of 34 people. These passengers would then be driven over 2000 km (about 1250 miles) to Munich. And the cost for the bus and two drivers? About €290 ($385) per passenger.



Starting at 7:00 pm Sunday evening in Istanbul, we reached the Bulgarian border at 10:00 pm. We had to use a side road to avoid the highway customs station where about 200 buses were waiting for immigration.

Pushing on to the Serbian border we had to wait in line for three hours because of six other buses ahead of us--everybody has got a Serbian stamp in their passport. One of our group, Manfred Schaffrath, from Profactor, was picked out for detailed luggage inspection, maybe searching for cigarettes or drugs. We wondered if perhaps he was suspected because he is Austrian!



Driving the whole night and half another day the bus passed Belgrade at 3:00 pm on Monday, and then going further on through Hungary and Austria to Munich.



After a 37 hour bus ride through five different countries with different languages and currencies, the group arrived in Munich on Tuesday morning at 8:00 am. Everybody was tired but happy to be back in Germany.

Images courtesy of Manfred Schaffrath, Profactor

Omens at trade shows

Predicting the market outlook for machine vision products can seem akin to interpreting the patterns of tea leaves or Tarot cards or even practicing myomancy – studying the movements of mice to foretell the future. However, those attending and exhibiting at this spring’s spate of machine vision and image processing trade shows may practice a modern version of myomancy to give themselves a sense of market momentum.

This week, for example, the SPIE Defense, Security, and Sensing show held in Orlando, FL, will provide attendees an impression of the state of the markets for imaging components and applications, especially those used in infrared applications. A strong technical conference accompanies the show.

The month after, in Boston, The Vision Show, May 25-27, will give both exhibitors and attendees alike an idea of the health of machine vision industry in North America, particularly the health of component makers.

Automatica, held in Munich, Germany, June 8-11, will reveal similar prospects for components and systems in Europe, especially as the show includes a strong robotic exhibition and the collocated technical symposium, ISR/Robotik. The show also takes place at the same time and exhibition center as Intersolar 2010, which will attract a vast audience for those involved in solar energy products and services, and is a fast growing area for machine-vision components and systems.

Myomancy, anyone?

A fool for milk

When I first read about automated cow milking machines that use machine vision, I thought it was amusing. Last year, LMI Technologies was working with GEA Farm Technologies to adapt its 3-D time-of-flight imager to the task of producing happier cows and higher yields.



Now I find that robot maker Fanuc Robotics has taken the concept of automated milking to an advanced stage with a herd-milking system that can be seen in this video. Machine vision just keeps getting more interesting.

Getting a bit better all the time

It seems that the market for machine vision products and systems is improving. IMS Research in the UK says the recovery in the world machine vision market is gathering pace, as shown by its latest quarterly report consolidating revenue data from major suppliers.



John Morse, the managing analyst for the tracking report says, “The market appears to be recovering faster than previously forecast.” The North America market grew the most between the third and forth quarter of 2009; but there was good growth also from both Europe/Middle East/Africa and Asia Pacific. “Our data show that the low point was Q1 2009 and revenues have grown each subsequent quarter. If this trend continues, the market will be back to its 2008 levels by 2011."

This corresponds to discussions I've had with system integrators and vendors. Blogger B Grey at Machine Vision 4 Users even notes that delivery times on lenses for machine vision (now getting longer) could be an indicator of recovery.

What form of tea-leaf-reading works for you?

Here are some more revealing charts that John Morse sent to me:

Adventures in Imaging

If you'd like to know what's going on with the VC crowd and new ideas in imaging, you could attend the MIT Imaging Ventures class on March 30, 2010.

If you missed it, here is the panel of entrepreneurs and technologists--a list that is very interesting to check out:
• Kenny Kubala, FiveFocal ~ Advanced imaging and optics;
• Rob Rowe, Lumidigm ~ Biometric fingerprint systems;
• Mark Holzbach, Zebra Imaging ~ Holographic products;
• Kari Pulli, Nokia Research Imaging ~ Imaging on mobiles

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BigShot could be a big deal for machine vision

Simpler cameras with embedded intelligence sounds like a good idea. In fact many vendors of smart cameras for machine vision are already heading in this direction, adding FPGAs, DSPs, and CPUs to their products so that their customers can build ever-more sophisticated systems without some of the software development needed for custom applications.

But wait! It seems that a group of 10-year-old kids is working on the same idea. Actually, it’s not quite the same idea since the kids are performing this task using a simple camera kit called BigShot (http://www.bigshotcamera.org/). The creator of BigShot is Shree Nayar, chairman of Columbia University’s computer-science department and director of the Computer Vision Laboratory.

BigShot is a build-it-yourself camera. It comes in a kit with less than 20 parts that snap and screw together simply. When it’s finished, users can peer through the transparent back and, with the help of labels preprinted on the plastic, show curious friends how the camera works. The labels point out the microprocessor, the memory chip, and other features that let this homemade device digitally capture, store, and reproduce images.



BigShot takes normal, panoramic, and even three-dimensional pictures. But the real point of the camera isn’t the photos. It’s to use the camera as an excuse to expose the kids to as many science and engineering concepts as possible.

Nayar worked with a group of contractors to flesh out his initial design and build the first set of working prototypes. He also worked with a group of undergraduate and graduate students at Columbia to develop the online educational materials, design the Bigshot website, and conduct the field tests.

So far there have been test sites in New York City, Bengaluru, India, and Vung Tao, Vietnam, where, the camera has served as a means for children of very different social and economic backgrounds to communicate and express themselves.

What can vendors and integrators of machine-vision products learn from such an undertaking? One lesson, perhaps, is that it is critical to educate young people in science and engineering and encourage some to follow these career paths.

Another is that simplicity and transparency help make technology a more useful tool--whether in education, manufacturing, security, biomedical research, or human relations.

In ways we may not yet recognize, the future success of such machine vision and image processing applications is already being secured by the interest, enthusiasm, and energy of 10-year olds fiddling with do-it-yourself cameras.