As I began working with National Instruments on the second video in the series explaining embedded technologies for machine designers, our discussion about vision technologies highlighted an interesting realization. What we realized is that that you probably have a vision system in your pocket right now. Smartphones have multi-megapixel cameras built-in with apps to read barcodes, project augmented reality, handle optical character recognition, and much more. Beyond the confines of your pocket, newer vehicles now typically have one or more cameras embedded for collision detection, backup assistance, or even to ensure the driver does not fall asleep at the wheel. (I covered such advances from Subaru and Nissan in two difference blog posts addressing computer vision and advances in robotic vision).
“At the rate vision is being added to embedded systems, chances are you will need to have some knowledge of vision within the next few years,” says Carlton Heard, Marketing Manager for Vision hardware and software at National Instruments.
To truly define embedded vision, Heard says it’s best to start with computer vision. “Computer vision is the process by which machines extract meaning from visual inputs. This is different than using a camera to display what the camera sees or to record a video, even though information is collected and decisions are made based upon the content of the images,” he says.
Because vision enables machines or products to know more about their physical surroundings and how to interact with them, there are an enormous amount of applications that can benefit from adding vision. For example, “embedded vision can also enhance safety by detecting danger and preventing accidents, boost efficiency by improving the throughput and quality of manufacturing, and simplify usability and spur innovation by enabling designers to do things previously thought impossible,” Heard adds.
To learn more about using embedded vision applications in your machines or even in your manufacturing operations, visit the site we’ve created with National Instruments focused on advanced control applications. Bu sure to check out the video “Using FPGAs to Accelerate Vision Applications" while you’re there.
