Image Sensors For automation, image sensor innovations promise better and more consistent performance along with other advances. Image sensors now are of higher resolution, offer a wider spectral response, enable more sophisticated processing, and implement such features as a global shutter. These innovations improve automation by producing more data to guide robots, classify products, and monitor processes. A brief survey shows where image sensors stand today, where they're headed tomorrow, and the impact of innovations on automation. Possible sources: analysts at Yole and IDTechEx, system integrators, Sony, Samsung, On Semiconductor, OmniVision, GalaxyCore, GPixel, and other vendors. Key Technologies: image sensors, automation AI Techniques for Vision Guided Robotics Different artificial intelligence techniques, such as Deep Learning, Transformers, Binary Decision Trees, etc., in Vision Guided Robots. I will attempt to separate the hype from reality and identify where true ROI is being realized using these modern AI techniques in VGR applications. I will also look back on the broken promises of past AI revolutions and explain what is different this time. I will look forward and present what AI techniques are about to provide measurable value for any industry that is currently using or could use VGR and what concepts and ideas may never be realized. Key Technologies: AI, Deep Learning, Vision Guided Robotics Hyperspectral Imaging in Vertical Farming "Advantages of hyperspectral imaging in vertical farming The need for a high-tech ally for agriculture is urgent, given that the world's population is expected to increase from 7.7 billion to 9.7 billion in 2050. Vertical cultivation can contribute. Vertical farming will not replace conventional farming or greenhouse production, but it can provide a significant niche for food production, especially for large cities. It will do so by relying on high use of technology, beneficial for monitoring parameters and nutrients, minimizing energy consumption, water usage, nutrients and fertilizers, and pesticides. Hyperspectral imaging provides valuable information essential for vertical farming that would be otherwise lost. For example, macro elements such as Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium, or the level of flavonoids in the anthocyanin family, are significant to understanding the plants' health. These would not be visible with traditional RGB cameras, and the alternative solution is a slow and expensive chemical analysis of the crops. This article discusses how hyperspectral imaging can be used to obtain information for vegetation analysis and its benefits for vertical farming." Key Technologies: Hyperspectral Imaging Noncontact Hyperspectral Imaging of Citrus Fruit to Facilitate Rapid Sorting by Sweetness Like most other businesses, sweet potato exporters are not impervious to labor shortages and inflation. The author examines a new process in which sweet potatoes travel down the conveyor belt in a random array and pass under an NSIX CVK5 3D camera positioned above the input conveyor. Based on Intel RealSense technology, the camera – which offers 1280 x 720 depth resolution at up to 30 fps at maximum resolution – captures 3D images of the potatoes. NSIX Vision Keys software running on an Intel Core i7-9700 industrial PC with an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 graphics processing unit guides a FANUC M-3iA/6S delta robot equipped with soft grippers to make picks. For potato placement optimization, Assatec developed a custom volume fitting algorithm within has been developed within Vision Keys software. Two additional CVK5 3D cameras are positioned above the boxing area. They capture 3D images of each box is packed. The software analyzes the images and decides where to put the next potato in the box. Once the robot places a potato into a box, the system immediately begins picking another potato and finding a place for it in the box. Key Technologies: Hyperspectral Imaging See Pricing hbspt.forms.create({ region: "na1", portalId: "4478512", formId: "84b5d99c-e78c-4224-88dd-5ae183709a73" });