Machine Vision Integration for Industrial Automation Control Platforms

MVTec Software GmbH, Bosch Rexroth, and Bosch Manufacturing Solutions have established a technical partnership to embed machine vision software into control-level industrial automation systems. The integration targets machine builders and system integrators by standardizing the deployment of image processing tasks.

Applications and Use Cases
The resulting system addresses the requirements of manufacturing facilities utilizing embedded machine vision. Application areas include automated quality inspection, precise component measurement, part identification, and robot guidance. Executing these routines directly on the machine control platform yields operational benefits such as higher process stability and optimal use of the existing digital infrastructure.

Technical Partnership and Ecosystem Integration
Integrating image processing into standard control architectures historically required extensive interface programming and system engineering. To address this technical challenge, MVTec and Bosch Manufacturing Solutions integrated their respective software with Bosch Rexroth’s hardware-independent operating environment. The cooperation relies on complementary expertise to eliminate custom interface configuration between vision systems and standard logic controllers.

System Architecture and Responsibilities
The technical solution utilizes a Linux-based operating system, ctrlX OS, developed by Bosch Rexroth as the foundational control environment. MVTec supplies HALCON, the core image processing technology, which executes rule-based vision methods, three-dimensional analysis, and deep learning models. Bosch Manufacturing Solutions provides the Nexeed Integrated Vision application, which connects the vision algorithms directly to the industrial control parameters. This architecture allows image processing and standard automation functions to share resources on a unified platform.

Implementation and Deployment
System integrators deploy the Nexeed integration software as a modular application within the primary control system. This method establishes a pre-defined technical link between the HALCON vision software and programmable logic controllers. The approach simplifies the integration phase by allowing engineering teams to implement vision sequences through standardized connections rather than developing distinct communication protocols for the camera hardware.

Operational Impact on System Integration
The primary measurable result of this architecture is a reduction in programming effort during system commissioning. Consolidating machine vision and control parameters decreases overall system complexity and minimizes data latency between inspection hardware and machine actuators.

Strategic Rationale
"With Nexeed Integrated Vision, we solve a key problem for system integrators: the time-consuming integration of machine vision into the control environment," states Marc Bindel, Head of Nexeed Automation at Bosch Manufacturing Solutions. "By making HALCON procedures directly available on ctrlX OS and providing a defined connection to the control technology, we drastically reduce the programming effort."

Edited by Aishwarya Mambet, Induportals Editor, with AI assistance.

www.mvtec.com