Sizing up an expanding market

MICHAEL WHEELER, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF michael.wheeler@photonics.com

Sizing up an expanding market Doorbell cameras such as Nest and Ring have grown from a curiosity to a must-have household item in North America and beyond. Along with backup cameras on cars, home automation systems, and household robotics, doorbell cameras showcase the use of vision in an emerging sector — one distinct from vision manufacturers that specialize in the industrial or consumer electronic markets.

As we learn in this issue’s “Field of View” from Vision Markets’ Ronald Mueller and guest co-author Sebastien Dignard, president of ienso, the increased interest in incorporating embedded vision in such systems has much to do with the maturation of integrated technology enablers. These include wireless connectivity, AI, edge computing, and innovations in processing. All have made it possible, the authors write, to exploit imaging’s true potential.

But there are different “rules of the road” for manufacturers in the consumer space compared to traditional machine vision companies focused on industrial applications. And, depending on the factor, either one could hold the advantage in the emerging imaging category.

Time to market is one consideration. It’s an area in which those in the consumer space hold a decided advantage because cycles are often measured in months and imaging innovation is built to spec. But vision providers on the industrial side hold a slight advantage in terms of product life cycle or in providing support documentation. Both types of vision manufacturers will vie for market dominance, believing they can “amortize the technology and capabilities they have already developed,” write Mueller and Dignard. Manufacturers also “face challenges rooted in the founding principles that have made them successful in their core markets.”

To find out who’ll win this clash, be sure to read “Field of View”.

Finally, don’t miss this month’s cover story, “Advancements in 3D Vision, Software Bolster Bin Picking” from Photoneo’s Adrian Kratky, which examines how the world of bin picking is changing and getting a boost from technologies such as parallel structured light and high-resolution scanning. Learn more about the ins and outs of structured, semistructured, and random bin picking and how developments in path planning and gripper design are making a difference.

Enjoy the issue!
>