A small and robust approach to 3D machine vision

Project Information

KL-IND

Grant agreement ID: 815452

DOI

10.3030/815452

Project closed

EC signature date 4 May 2018

Start date 1 June 2018

End date 30 November 2018

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs

Total cost

€ 71 429,00

EU contribution

€ 50 000,00

Coordinated by

K LENS GMBH
Germany

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - KL-IND (A small and robust approach to 3D machine vision)

Reporting period: 2018-06-01 to 2018-11-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Efficient industrial production as propagated under the term industry 4.0 requires powerful and flexible sensors. Already today, the global market for machine vision solutions is huge (USD 9,10b in 2016) and still growing strong (predicted size of USD 15,46b until 2022). With automation moving forward, 2D is more and more replaced by 3D controls. Consequently, the 3D market is even growing faster (size of USD 1,37b in 2017 and predicted to have a size of USD 2,45b by 2022).
In industry, there exists an extensive range of very specific applications, for which today a variety of 3D sensor concepts exist. However, there is no solution for each and every problem and all sensor concepts turn out to have shortcomings.

Our patented light-field technology allows to build a new 3D sensor, which is small in size, auto-calibrated and robust to reflections for inline use at competitive cost.

It is particularly useful where small baselines are required, for example for the inspection of small metal parts such as electronic connectors or to control high precision welding processes or to navigate small and agile robots. It is made up of standard hardware components, i.e. an industrial camera, a main lens and, if necessary an active illumination projector, which are extended by a dedicated optical system (the K|Lens). Therefore, it can be easily adjusted to required use case parameters, such as working distance, region of interest and x/y/z precision.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

During Phase 1 of the SME Instrument we determined the technological, practical and economic viability of applying the K|Lens technology in industrial use cases, we identified the resources needed to develop it into a product, and the associated cost.

As a result of this feasibility study, we identified applications where an adapted version of our technology will provide unique benefits. Consequently, the further development of this innovation is a project that demonstrates high potential in terms of competitiveness and growth for our start-up.

Such product will allow us to enter the machine vision market with a unique 3D solution. On top of our proprietary approach, we intend to offer non-protected alternative hardware solutions which we can easily combined with our unique 3D software solution or our software on a stand-alone basis.

Based on market data, application cases and competitor analysis, we built a strategic business plan as well as a high-level implementation plan.

As a next step, we will secure financing of the implementation plan to put it into action.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

N/A

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