Machine vision, as one of the core technologies of intelligent manufacturing, is giving “eyes” and “judgment” to the production line.
It combines cameras, optical lenses, image processing algorithms and artificial intelligence to enable automated systems to perceive and judge like humans, but faster, with higher precision, and without being affected by fatigue.
In the industrial environment, from defect detection and dimensional measurement for quality control, to component identification and position detection for assembly guidance, to object tracking and collision avoidance for robot control, and barcode reading and automatic sorting for inventory management – machine vision has penetrated into every key link of automated manufacturing.
An automated manufacturing system without machine vision is like a machine without senses. It can only perform preset mechanical actions and cannot adapt to changes or detect abnormalities.
In recent years, with the rapid iteration of industries such as new energy vehicles, 3C electronics, semiconductors and pharmaceuticals, the accuracy requirements of machine vision inspection have been pushed to the micron or even sub-micron level.
In lithium battery production, defects in any link from pole piece alignment to shell sealing may affect the safety, performance and life of the battery; in semiconductor wafer manufacturing, every tiny defect may lead to the scrapping of the entire batch of products; in drug testing, inspection of liquid level, bottle cap sealing, and visible foreign matter is directly related to life and health.
These scenarios jointly point to a core proposition: As the “first gate” of the vision system, the performance of the machine vision lens directly determines the detection limit and stability of the entire automated manufacturing system.
At present, a number of domestic manufacturers with core technical capabilities have emerged in the domestic industrial optics field. Among them, COOLENS, which has been deeply involved in the field of industrial optics for more than ten years, is a national-level specialized and new “little giant” enterprise that has laid out the industrial lens track earlier in the country. It has formed a full range of product matrix covering from megapixels to 600 million pixels, and has developed more than 8,500 product models in total.
It is able to provide complete lens solutions for core links such as industrial code reading, defect detection, and positioning identification in automated manufacturing production lines. Its independently designed and manufactured COOLENS brand industrial lenses have shipped more than 2 million units, with an annual supply of more than 350,000 units. The market share of telecentric lenses exceeds 20%. The products are exported to more than 15 countries and regions around the world. It is hailed as the “King of Telecentric Lenses” in the industry. It is a domestic leader in lens specifications, rapid customization capabilities, and shipments.
In terms of industrial code reading and automated traceability, Shiqing Technology’s WWH series telecentric lenses adopt a high-contrast, low-distortion optical design and built-in coaxial light illumination, which can effectively deal with the problem of micro-code reading on reflective surfaces such as metal and glass. Multiple working distances and magnifications are available, and it supports one million to five million pixel digital cameras. It has reliable reading performance in electronic manufacturing automation scenarios such as mobile phone motherboard patch code recognition, semiconductor package QR code reading, and lithium battery material traceability.
For smaller-size Data Matrix code recognition, the WWK series of multi-million-pixel telecentric lenses provide the industry’s highest NA value (>0.1), which can capture finer code element details and meet the accuracy requirements for high-density component traceability.
In the defect detection scenario, the relevant product lines have achieved multi-level coverage from macro size to micro defects: DTCA24K series is specially designed for line scan inspection of large target surfaces, supporting ultra-large target surfaces from Ø82mm to Ø88mm, with up to 5x optical magnification, NA value as high as 0.25, and F value as low as 4.8. It can be matched with 150-600 million pixel cameras and is used in LCD/OLED panel inspection and wafer AOI inspection.
High-value scenes such as measurement can be installed in batches; the DTCA35F series is a micron-level ultra-high-resolution bi-telecentric lens that perfectly matches industrial cameras such as 65MP 3.2μm, 71MP 3.1μm, 8K5μm, etc., with a maximum NA of 0.19. The first product has been installed and run in batches, realizing an effective replacement for foreign cutting-edge monopoly products, and effectively solving the problem of semiconductor wafer surface defects, Mini/Micro
The expected results were achieved in the detection of minor defects in LED chips.
In the field of positioning detection and assembly guidance, Shiqing Technology’s MFA series high-definition FA lenses cover focal lengths of 6-100mm, supporting 1/1.8″ to 1.
The 2″ target surface has the characteristics of low distortion, high uniformity, and earthquake resistance, and is widely used in automated positioning and inspection scenarios such as robotic arm grabbing and positioning, component placement and alignment in production lines; the DTCM series matrix bi-telecentric lens adopts a matrix-type bilateral telecentric design.
The front and rear groups can be separated and reorganized, covering a field of view ranging from 26mm to 300mm. It is suitable for various C/M/F interface industrial cameras from 1/2.5″ to 150 million pixels. The entire series has 200+ standard products and over 100 non-standard specifications. In the lithium battery industry
It has been used in processes such as battery core assembly inspection, tab inspection, diaphragm position detection, liquid injection machine positioning and grabbing, etc. With its high telecentricity and low distortion characteristics, it can accurately capture micron-level welding spatter and false welding traces to ensure assembly accuracy.
From the specifics.
Judging from industry implementation, machine vision lenses have achieved full coverage in many high-end manufacturing fields: in the lithium battery industry, related telecentric lenses can complete full-process inspection support such as cell winding inspection, tab weld defect identification, and diaphragm position measurement, greatly reducing battery leakage and safety risks; in the semiconductor and electronics industry, ultra-high-resolution lenses can achieve precise control of micron-level defects, improving the yield rate of core components such as wafers and PCB boards; in the pharmaceutical industry, high-contrast and low-distortion imaging solutions can effectively eliminate glass bottles.
Reflective interference, complete the liquid level, sealing, and foreign matter detection of medicine bottles to ensure drug safety and compliance; in the field of automotive parts manufacturing, the one-click measurement solution can cover the size inspection needs of multiple specifications of parts, significantly reducing the production line changeover time.
The current technical level of domestic brands in the field of machine vision lenses has significantly improved, and customization capabilities and fast delivery timeliness have obvious advantages in non-standard projects. Companies can choose appropriate product solutions based on comprehensive evaluation of inspection accuracy requirements, production line rhythm, and project cycle to reduce implementation costs.
