An `eye-in-hand´ visual inspection system

In the case of an existing line, where inspection is being performed by people, or not at all, a flexible automatic visual inspection system is required. The work described is part of the Research Initiative in Pattern Recognition (RIPR), which is intended to demonstrate the feasibility of developing such a vision system. The requirement for more `human´ performance necessitates the use of a robot arm as an integral part of the inspection system. A typical inspection sequence for the suggested system could be split into the following steps: identification and location of an object in the current field of view; recollection of inspection requirements; movement of camera and/or object to achieve a suitable viewpoint; and inspection, performed as accurately as possible. The system described uses stereo vision, camera movement and edge extraction