Vision software
Scott Roth of the West Coast Division of Unimation implemented an interface to the Machine Intelligence Corporation (MIC) vision system VS-100 in early 1981. It was a binary system using blob (connectivity) analysis. Unimation's first vision system was called Univision I for PUMA robots.[10]
When the West Coast Division of Unimation split off to become Adept Technology, Scott continued to develop the robot vision system under an agreement whereby Adept agreed to grant back software enhancements to Unimation over a period of 2 years. This agreement also applied to VAL, the robot programming language then used for the PUMA robots. Adept called the vision system AdeptVision. Scott was joined by Fred Andresen in 1984, who wrote some vision tools and AIM VisionWare, the GUI.
AdeptVision is probably the first commercially available robot vision system that achieved sales in the thousands of units. AdeptVision included many vision-related operations for image capture, enhancement, and analysis. It provided machine guidance with robot-vision calibration and supported online gauging and assembly verification. Provided functionality included rulers (line and arc), windows (rectangular, round, annulus, and pie-shaped regions of interest), feature finders (line and arc fitters), normalized grayscale correlation, blob analysis, processing tools (gradient or Sobel edge detection, thresholding, morphology, image subtraction, histogram, frame copy, pan & zoom, and convolutions), and feature-based recognition.[11] The rotation and scale invariant ObjectFinder was patented.[12]
The “ruler” created by Fred Andresen is an important metrology tool that locates edges along a line or arc with sub-pixel accuracy. The linear version operates in any orientation and is the basis of the line and arc fitters, providing high accuracy in grayscale images.
AdeptVision systems ranged from binary linescan for conveyor belts to binary and grayscale 2-D images. The system controllers evolved from the Q-bus to the Multibus to the VME bus. The first system consisted of the DEC LSI-11/23 CPU, EG&G Reticon line camera, camera interface board that included a run-length processor, a Peritek display processor board (512 x 512 x 1 bitmap), and a B&W display/terminal.
The various versions of the vision systems over time included AdeptVision I [256 x 241 x 1-bit binary], AdeptVision II [375 x 483 x 1-bit binary], AdeptVision ML [256 x 1-bit for moving line], -XGS [509 x 481 x 7-bit grayscale], -XGS II [509 x 481 x 7-bit grayscale], -AGS [512 x 484 x 8-bit grayscale], -AGS II, -AGS-GV [512 x 484 x 8-bit grayscale], -VME [640 x 480 or 1024 x 1024 x 7-bit grayscale], and -VXL. The AdeptVision XGS and AGS systems were particularly popular in Adept's early history, with 1000 AdeptVision AGS systems alone having been shipped as of January 25, 1993.
