Why use industrial machine vision LED lights?
Industrial machine vision LED lights are engineered to deliver consistent, non-fluctuating illumination, essential for applications requiring continuous operation. These lights are available in various colors to enhance contrast, facilitating precise detection and measurement tasks.
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Why use Industrial Machine Vison LED Lights?
Industrial machine vision LED lights are engineered to deliver consistent, non-fluctuating illumination, essential for applications requiring continuous operation. These lights are available in various colors to enhance contrast, facilitating precise detection and measurement tasks.
We offer a comprehensive portfolio of machine vision lighting solutions designed for durability and consistent performance. Our lights are engineered with a long lifecycle, ensuring that the same model with identical specifications and output will be available for years to come. This reliability eliminates the challenges associated with product discontinuity, allowing seamless integration into long term industrial applications.
Our machine vision lights provide exceptional batch repeatability with minimal LED characteristic variations. This ensures consistent quality across batches, reducing the risk of deviations that could impact image accuracy or production standards.
Powered by constant DC voltage and robust power sources, our industrial lights deliver flicker-free illumination, essential for precise imaging. Additionally, these lights can be overdriven or strobed to achieve higher light intensity for short durations, accommodating applications that demand enhanced illumination.
We offer a wide range of industrial machine vision lights, each tailored to optimize the detection of specific features. Whether your application requires silhouette imaging, surface inspection, or reflective object illumination, our solutions are designed to meet the highest standards of performance and reliability.
What are the common issues with Consumer LED Lights?
Consumer-grade LED lights differ significantly from industrial machine vision lighting, often making them unsuitable for precision imaging applications. Here are the key limitations of consumer LEDs:
- Consumer LEDs frequently exhibit fluctuating current and light output, leading to instability in illumination.
- Lower-quality LEDs are often used in consumer lights, and they are not always placed uniformly. This results in uneven light distribution, with visible hotspots that can distort imaging results.
- Consumer LED lights are typically available for a limited time in the market and may not be purchasable 2–5 years after their introduction. This short lifecycle makes them unsuitable for applications requiring long-term consistency.
- Significant variations can exist between batches and even within the same production batch.
- Many consumer LED lights are powered by AC voltage, causing an ON-OFF-ON-OFF cycle. If the camera's exposure time is not synchronized with the ON state, the light appears intermittent or flickers in the captured images.
- Consumer LEDs are generally available in a limited range of formats, such as spotlights or basic LED bars restricting their usability for diverse industrial applications that demand tailored lighting solutions.
Enhancing Image Contrast with Machine Vision Lighting
Machine vision lights are designed to enhance specific features of an object, improving contrast and enabling accurate detection or measurement. Different lighting types serve unique purposes, and in some cases, multiple lights are combined to achieve optimal contrast.
Below is an overview of the types of machine vision lights:
Bottom Lit Backlight
A bottom-lit backlight is a light bed that illuminates the object from the backside. This setup enhances the contrast between the object and its background, making it ideal for capturing clear silhouettes. The object is typically placed at 0 –100 mm from the backlight for optimal results.
Applications: Measuring perimetrical dimensions or creating a silhouette; verifying the presence or absence of a part.
Ring Light (Dark Field)
A ring light with a dark-field configuration shines light at a very low angle towards the object. This lighting technique emphasizes surface features by highlighting edges and irregularities, making it ideal for detecting fine details on flat or slightly curved surfaces.
Applications:Measuring relief characteristics; detecting surface defects, such as scratches or engravings.
Ring Light (Bright Field)
A bright-field ring light features multiple LEDs arranged perpendicularly to the object, often combined with an optional diffuser. This design provides uniform illumination, making it ideal for round objects. For rectangular objects, the corners may appear slightly darker due to the light's distribution pattern. For slightly reflective surfaces, a diffused version is recommended as it evenly spreads the light and minimizes reflections.
Applications: General purpose lighting for non-reflective or slightly reflective objects and for inspecting round objects or achieving even illumination with diffused lighting.
Dome Light
A dome light is a semi-spherical structure with LED’s positioned to shine inward. This configuration provides uniform illumination, minimizing glare and reflections, making it ideal for objects with medium to high reflectivity. However, due to its shape, a dark spot may sometimes appear at the center. Dome lights are less effective at emphasizing relief features, making them suitable for surface uniformity is a priority.
Applications: General-purpose lighting for highly reflective objects and for inspecting glossy or plasticized surfaces where glare needs to be minimized.
Coaxial Light
A coaxial light uses a half-transparent mirror to align the camera and a flat light source along the same axis. This configuration ensures that flat surfaces reflect light directly back to the camera, appearing bright, while non-flat areas scatter light and appear darker. The absence of dark spots makes coaxial lights ideal for inspecting highly reflective objects with uniform illumination.
Applications: Inspection of highly reflective objects and for surfaces requiring accurate detection of flatness or irregularities.
Bar Light
Industrial bar lights feature multiple lines of LEDs and may include an optional diffusing plate for more even light distribution. These lights are often used in pairs or quartets to minimize shadows and ensure uniform illumination. Their customizable positioning allows for various lighting techniques, such as simulating dark-field, bright-field, or backlight setups. Bar lights can be placed close to the object for focused lighting or next to the camera for broader coverage.
Applications: Inspection of flat objects, including both highly reflective and non reflective surfaces and general-purpose lighting for inspecting non-reflective objects.
Key considerations for Selecting Industrial Machine Vision Lights:
Start by determining what you want to see or detect. The choice of lighting depends on the object’s physical characteristics and the features you aim to highlight or measure.
Select a light that is at least 10% larger than the object being inspected. A larger light provides more illumination and flexibility, ensuring even coverage. Remember, there is no such thing as too much light in machine vision applications.
Choose a light shape that aligns with the object’s geometry. This ensures uniform illumination and prevents shadows or uneven lighting.
Position the light close to the object for maximum light reflection and brightness. Closer proximity results in a brighter, clearer image.
For the best quality results, pair parallel telecentric lenses with parallel backlight emitting LEDs. This combination ensures precision and reduces distortions in imaging.
Selecting Lights with different colors can enhance contrast and highlight specific features.
Access Our Machine Vision Lighting Datasheets
Download detailed machine vision lighting datasheets by completing the form below. Gain insights into specifications, features, and performance to help you choose the ideal lighting solution for your application.
