Machine Vision

Vital Technology for Manufacturing Inudstries

       Machine vision is becoming an increasingly important technology that can be used to improve product performance and quality, increase productivity, reduce labor costs, and decrease liability in a wide variety of manufacturing industries. It is vital in semiconductor manufacturing equipment; and the latest technological advances in computer chips would probably not have been possible without machine vision. North America is both the largest producer and consumer of these products in the world.

       This article, reprinted from a United States International Trade Commission report, provides an overview of the technology and the industry structure, describes the application of machine vision in the semiconductor manufacturing industry, and examines future prospects for the technology.

       Machine vision is a relatively new technology used in diverse manufacturing industries including the container, electronic, food, pharmaceutical, printing, semiconductor, wood products, and fastener industries. Although machine vision dates to the late 1950s when it was created in an academic setting, companies did not begin to adopt the technology until the 1980s as increasing emphasis was placed on product quality and production efficiency, and improvements occurred in machine vision equipment. The machine vision industry took advantage of the technological advances that led to...

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