Like all computer technology, the speed, power and affordability of image analysis software for automated vision systems has improved exponentially since its advent in the 1970s, when the first algorithms simply counted pixels. Today’s image analysis software can read embossed metal lettering by seeing the character’s shadows and turning it into height information, or learn what a good part or bad part is simply by being shown several examples.
Perhaps most importantly for system integrators, many of these tasks can be accomplished without writing new computer code, thanks to pre-written algorithms packaged into complex tools.