An object oriented approach to a machine vision framework

The Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of Brighton has been directing research at improving manufacturing flexibility within the electronics industry, particularly within surface mount technology (SMT) production. One of the areas in which much potential exists, is the development of sensory systems that are able to intelligently control all elements within the manufacturing environment. Machine vision has been shown to improve the flexibility and quality within manufacturing processes. Although the potential for machine vision exists, applications have been restricted to high volume manufacturing due to prohibitive costs and the inherent inflexibility of present vision systems. The authors have been addressing the problems associated with the design and integration of vision systems by developing an object oriented framework to facilitate machine vision development