Calibration - A relief for inconsistent image acquisition
If you are one of the many enterprises trying to implement vision AI, then you should know how important consistency in image acquisition is. The AI model being trained is only as good as the data you put in and simple changes in environment such as changes in illumination or slight movements of the camera or product can drastically affect your results. With traditional AI solutions, depending on the reason for a failed inspection, you may need to shut down your line to make environmental adjustments. With VIA, if the inspection fails due to small environmental changes, like variability in illumination, rather than bringing the line down to repair or install new lighting, calibration may be able to adjust and prevent the need for any additional maintenance. Machine downtime for adjustments or repairs can kill productivity and be very costly, according to Deloitte, “Unplanned downtime costs industrial manufacturers roughly USD$50 billion a year”. To help solve this unique challenge we developed a new feature in our VIA Software called Calibration.
Calibration allows you to adjust and refine the model locally, in line, based upon subtle environmental changes that may have occurred. The ability to adjust the model in line greatly reduces machine downtime. Good examples of slight environmental variances might mean lighting changes, shadowing, or even slight movement of the part and/or camera. Calibration simply recalibrates the AI model locally to adjust for these changes so that the model can still perform well – without having to retrain the model using data that is representative of the new environment.
Calibration is initially offered for anomaly recognition models. To calibrate a model, you are prompted to collect a small number of normal sample images in the new environment. Inspector then calibrates the model to the new environment. You are then presented how the model works for the images captured to verify the calibration was successful. Finally you can save the calibrated model, and take it into use when performing inspections with VIA Inspector.
Whether youre inspecting PCBs or raw materials Neurala VIA is changing the QA process by offering easy-to-use and implement vision AI software that now has the ability to adjust and refine the model in line based upon possible subtle environmental changes. VIA offers the most flexible integration options on the market today – you determine the camera, the IPC and the network communication you want to use. This flexibility reduces the time and investment required for implementing vision AI, resulting in a low total cost of ownership and making AI adoption a reality for all manufacturers. Learn more about VIA: https://www.neurala.com/product
