Industrial Automation Magazine India

B&R enhances smart camera portfolio for AI-enhanced machine vision

Published on : Monday 03-04-2023

This is a three-way collaboration with machine vision software specialist MVTec and AI processor specialist Hailo.

B&R is enhancing its smart camera portfolio with powerful deep learning functionality. Machine vision algorithms based on deep learning are opening exciting new ways to improve quality, boost productivity and prevent waste while making manufacturing more flexible. The first product to emerge from the project is a deep-learning-based optical character recognition (OCR) function. This deep OCR achieves remarkably fast read rates, even on fonts that are otherwise difficult to recognise. High-performance deep learning algorithms require a powerful processor. Yet, implementation as an edge device also made power consumption a critical issue.

Todays machine builders need not just computing speed but also power efficiency, in addition to world class performance of 26 tera-operations per second (TOPS), the inference accelerators also require remarkably low power consumption. This is a three-way collaboration with machine vision software specialist MVTec and AI processor specialist Hailo, who make the B&R camera a powerful and efficient edge device. Our collaboration with MVTec gives machine builders access to the best selection of the best performing vision functions around, being an industry leader in both deep learning and classic rule-based algorithms – two complementary approaches that each play an essential role in machine automation.