Case Studies
Cognex Corporation designs, develops, manufactures, and markets a range of products that incorporate sophisticated machine vision technology that gives them the ability to “see.” Cognex products include barcode readers, machine vision sensors, and machine vision systems that are used in factories, warehouses, and distribution centers around the world to guide, gauge, inspect, identify, and assure the quality of items during the manufacturing and distribution process. Cognex is the world’s leader in the machine vision industry, having shipped more than 1 million vision-based products, representing over $4 billion in cumulative revenue, since the company’s founding in 1981. Headquartered in Natick, Massachusetts, USA, Cognex has regional offices and distributors located throughout the Americas, Europe, and Asia.
Content Filed Under:
Industry:
Medical Devices
and Pharmaceutical
Medical Devices
and Pharmaceutical
Application:
Visual Inspection & Testing
Visual Inspection & Testing
Verifying Assembly of Test Kits
Cognex Corporation
POSTED 04/21/2000
Verifying Assembly of Test Kits
Customer Problem:
A manufacturer of home cholesterol test kits was searching for a way to perform a complex, 3D inspection of tight-tolerance part position, fast enough to keep up with line speeds. Having zero positioning defects is particularly important because positioning problems lead to incorrect test results, which is a serious liability concern. When the kit is used, a drop of blood reacts with chemicals on a reagent pad, causing material to flow up a capillary that runs underneath a readout overlay. Exact pad placement is critical because misplacement by even a few mils causes a wrong readout.
Cognex Solution:
A Cognex Checkpoint 800 keeps pace with line speeds by examining six kits at a time using six different cameras. For each kit, the vision system first locates the kit and then measures the position of reagent pads in a well. Using projected lines of laser light and triangulation techniques, the vision system determines 3D position to high accuracy.
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A Cognex system integrator made the most challenging aspects of this project invisible to the customer. The integrator provided not only the laser lighting and optics, but also the interface to a PLC for rejecting bad parts and to a spreadsheet program for collecting SPC data. In addition to inspection routines, the integrator implemented calibration procedures and a simple operator interface. Despite the application's complexity, they designed and installed the system in just six weeks.