Scorpion Products for the Aluminium Industry

Tordivel has been working with Scorpion Vision to provide solution for the Rodding since 2004. The following datasheets describes these solutions:

• Bath Detection Vision System – 682 kbyte pdf
• Stub Alignment Vision System – 924 kByte pdf
• Butt Dimension Vision System – 703 kbyte pdf
• Vision System for Rodding – 980 kByte pdf

Scorpion 8 is released 20th January 2010

Scorpion 8 is now in a late beta-phase at the moment and everything is progressing nicely.

Our goal is to make Scorpion the first choice for 3D Bin Picking based on Stereo Vision.

Soon to be available extensive support for Sick-IVP Ranger and Ruler 3D Cameras.

Our first Scorpion 8 training course is 26 and 27th January 2010

The following features are under preparation, verification and testing:

• Calibrator3D – 3D chessboard calibration
  • we make the accuracy and flexibity of Scorpion 3D calibration even better
• MonoPose3D – locates an object in 3D with one camera
  • is also used to locate cameras in multi-camera systems
• Support for multiple camera drivers in one Scorpion profile
  • making it easy to combine line scan, area scan, firewire and gigE in one system
• View multiple curves in Curve Window
• 3DMaMa locating multiple objects in a point cloud based on a cad-model
• CircleSegmentor – fast location of circular and occluded object
  • Companion RectangleSegmentor tool locates rectangles
  • Locate multiple objects with subpixel resolution
• Improved Online Help Files – extensive set of sample profile available
• Numerous improvements to 2D and 3D accuracy
• Enhanced Camera Support including Sony Smart Cameras.
• Python26 support including access to OpenCV
• Best in Class accuracy and robustness with Stereo Vision with up to 4 cameras
• Scorpion SmartCam 3D including MonoPose3D
• Updated pricelists with more competetive prices
• Windows 7 compatibility

Scorpion Q&A

We have moved our Q&A section to http://scorpionqa.wordpress.com.  

Our ambition is to use this as an active communication channel with our users. The updated Q&A for sub-pixel measurement show how we link the Q&A to the Scorpion Online Help which contains sample profiles for tools and applications.

Beer Can Print Verification – OCV

Scorpion Vision Software’s TemplateFinder3 combined with PolygonMatch is a perfect tool for OCR and OCV. The animation below is from a real Scorpion Vision system processing 1200 beer cans/minute.

PolygonMatch is a trademark of Tordivel AS.

Circle Segmentor – Locate multiple overlapping circles

With Scorpion Vision we continuously make new tools or weapons in the quality war to help our customers improve their services. Our latest invention is tool # 153 – CircleSegmentor. The tool will be available in Scorpion 8.0 due january 2010. The basic specification is:

• Locate multiple overlapping Circles
• Sub-pixel accuracy
• Intensity independent
• Fast – multicore ready
• Extensive Circle validation

The concept is basically:

• Sobel-filter within a region of interest
• Clever edge-decimation
• RANSAC to locate circle candidates
• PolygonMatch to verify and locate circles with sub-pixel accuracy

A test case for the tool is object counting and tracking in fish farming. The animation below shows an underwater image from a fish cage where Scorpion counts the pellets not eaten. To provide a proper counting an advanced tracking algorithm is used to follow each pellets and to collapse the multiple observations of each pellet to a single count. The CircleSegmentor provide the count and the center position of each pellets in every single frame.

The animations shows 2  images pr second – equalling the true speed.  A total of 32 pellets are counted in the 45 second animation.

We will “benchmark” the CircleSegmentor’s performance towards a blob approach.

Case # 1 is 10 pellets in the image. The CS counts 10 – blob segments 3 close pellets into one object.

Case # 1 - CircleSegmentor counting 10 pellets

The corresponding blob image – blob 1 contains three pellets.

Case # 1 - Blob segments 3 pellets to one

Case # 2 – CircleSegmentor counts three overlapping pellets.

The image below shows how CS are able to count three overlapping objects. 

Case # 2 : CircleSegmentor segments 3 overlapping pellets

Object Counting and Tracking

is a large application area for machine vision. CircleSegmentor will find many applications within counting, tracking and robot vision and is an extremely useful extension of the power Scorpion toolbox. The sub-pixel accuracy is important for 3D stereo vision.

PolygonMatch is a trademark of Tordivel AS.

Why Scorpion and PC-based Machine Vision?

There is an excellent article about PC based Vision at Machine Vision Online. The advantages are:

• Multiple Cameras
• 3D
• Speed and resolution
• More than just a camera
• PC is required to make a system anyway
• Flexible communication
• Graphical User Interface
• Database Access

All in the article by Steve Mleczewski, Project Engineer, VMT – Pepperl+Fuchs is applicable to describe why Scorpion is based on PC and Windows. With Scorpion the support of Sony SmartCams means that both Vision Sensor and PC Based is supported by the Scorpion Vision  software platform.

Tordivel and Scorpion at display at Vision-2009

It was a busy at Vision-2009

The following images display our presence at Unibrain and Polytec’s stands in Stuttgart. The exhibition was extremely busy with existing and new customers.

The highlight was Scorpion 3D and 3DMaMa – our new algorithm for locating multiple parts in a point cloud. We are already looking forward for next years exhibition.

Paul Wilson from Scorpion Vision promoting 3D

Scorpion Vision together with Polytec the German Distributor

Scorpion, DirectShow and IP Cameras

When we designed Scorpion Vision Software our focus was on Industry Standards. One of the standard was DirectShow that is a part of DirectX from Microsoft. The Scorpion interface to DirectX is the Scorpion Camera driver firegrab.dll. In the later years we have interface a large number of image and camera SDK and apis - more….

One of our in Denmark has been trying to get an IqEye ip-camera to work with Scorpion Vision.  They have tried our new NetworkCamera driver – images is acquired properly but the number of images with this camera is too low. They have reported that the DirectShow driver from Azcendant is working very well – more …

This proves the power of Industry Standards which forms the basis for Scorpion Vision Software.

Solar Bow Measurement from Tordivel Solar AS

The system developed by the newly formed Tordivel Solar—a spin-off from Tordivel—are designed to measure the bow of the solar cell as it passes along a production line.

Read more Vision Systems Design.

Scorpion Vision Software is a VRAT not a library

Back from Vision-2009 in Stuttgart I was inspired to write this article. A comment question from potential users are:  ”Is Scorpion a library?”  The answer to this question is a big NO.

• Scorpion is a VRAT – Vision Rapid Application development Tool

Why was Scorpion not designed to be a library?

When Scorpion was designed in 2000 we wanted to create a PC based Vision Sensor application. The model and inspiration was the uk company Image Industries innovative vision sensor Checker. Image Industries was later aquired by Cognex and Checker disappeared. In 2002 we added Python to Scorpion. This is the most important addition to the initial Scorpion design and turned the configurable application into an open framework.  Scorpion is 425 builds later alive and kicking and is continously evolving and has become the most efficient way to develope 2D and 3D machine vision applications.

Because we strongly believe that the Scorpion Vision Tool produces better and more reliable applications – 5 to 50 times faster from idea to working application than system based on a library!

This Scorpion application – WISM – Wafer Inspection Master – contains no Image processing but coordinates multiple Scorpion applications in a Wafer Inspection Line –  is developed by Tordivel Solar.