Stemmer Imaging and Perception Park (Graz, Austria) have signed a cooperation agreement for the distribution of new machine vision systems based on Chemical Color Imaging (CCI) technology. Thanks to this technique, complex hyperspectral data at the molecular level becomes intuitively usable in machine vision, opening up completely new fields of application.
With their chemical and molecular properties, objects leave a spectral signature, a unique "fingerprint" that only hyperspectral cameras are capable of identifying. Until now, the use of hyperspectral systems has been restricted to the fields of spectroscopy and chemometrics, as the technique is not yet generally applicable in industry.
This situation is about to change, thanks to a cooperation agreement between Perception Park and Stemmer Imaging. Perception Park has developed a generic, configurable and intuitive data-processing platform, providing easily applicable, encapsulated scientific methods for hyperspectral analysis. This software platform, which serves as the basis for hyperspectral systems, is now available in all Stemmer Imaging subsidiaries.
The new hyperspectral solution operates in real time, with a computing power of over 200 million spectral points per second. Various types of camera can be connected to this platform via the most common vision interfaces: CameraLink and GigE Vision.
Many examples of CCI vision system applications can be found in the agri-food sector, particularly in the food processing industry: this technique produces images in which the proportions of meat, fat and bone are clearly distinguishable. Other industrial sectors using this technique include mining, pharmaceuticals and recycling. In the latter case, hyperspectral imaging can be used to automatically separate plastics, on sorting lines for example, where the system needs to be able to identify and separate polyethylene (PE) parts from polypropylene (PP) ones according to their chemical composition. Initial tests using CCI technology and a hyperspectral structure have already enabled us to image a human hand and visualize the blood vessels running through it," explains Markus Burgstaller, CEO of Perception Park.
Stemmer Imaging's hyperspectral systems based on Perception Park software will be presented at the first Conference on Hyperspectral Imaging in Industry (CHII 2016, www.chii2016.com) on June 15 and 16, 2016 in Graz, as well as at Automatica from June 21 to 24, 2016 in Munich.
All those interested in this new technology are also cordially invited to attend the training courses on the subject of hyperspectral machine vision offered by Stemmer Imaging as part of the European Imaging Academy in Puchheim. The first course will take place on April 27, 2016 (presentation in German).
Learn more: www.stemmer-imaging.com