When new technology is introduced to agriculture, it’s not always within reach of smaller growers. But that’s not the case with one new vision system that’s likely to appeal to just this group.
AIS Technologies Group based in Windsor, ON has just this year launched its Mobile Vision System (MVS) which is a mobile phone-enabled vision system that allows photographing and analyzing product within a few seconds.
“Typically, vision is handled with fixed cameras and it’s set up under an array of lights,” says Shawn Horton of AIS Technologies Group. “We’ve developed a system that uses a mobile phone and a computer. The phone can take an image of a product, send it out to the PC for processing and have it back from that analysis within about three seconds.” The company’s provisional patent was filed on the MVS in January and the technology’s features include no floor space footprint, freedom of motion (meaning the system’s field of view is unlimited), uses deep learning algorithms and more.
Quick image inspections
Ideally the technology is used to find a feature—or lack of feature—on a product. “Let’s say you’re taking pictures of tomatoes and you need to do an inspection on the fly and just want to know whether a tomato should be pulled from the batch because of a blemish or problem,” says Horton. “You could do an image inspection very quickly and report back.”
While the application can be used in industries such as automotive or aerospace, it also has a place in agriculture with growers as well, operating with lower volumes. “It is ideal for smaller farms who aren’t doing high-production yields but need to make sure they have traceability in the system,” says Horton. “If you’re doing a high production line with fixed vision systems, you could be into a couple of hundred thousand dollars worth of automation or more. This is more to the tune of around $80,000.”
For more information:
Shawn Horton
AIS Technologies Group
Tel: +1 (519) 819-3123
shawn.horton@aistechgroup.com
https://www.aistechgroup.com/