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Contrast Enhancement Through Filtering

From Edmund Optics Inc.
 

 

During packaging, pharmaceutical pills of different colors need to be sorted. An automated imaging system, which distinguishes between the different colored pills, is essential in increasing production efficiency. In such a system, pills are inspected for specific characteristics as they travel down a trough-like conveyor belt prior to sorting. A minimum of 60% contrast is needed for the software to be able to differentiate between the different pills.

From the lens selection guide,the 35mm MVO® Double Gauss imaging lens, used with a 1/2" CCD format camera, yields an appropriate field of view and working distance for this application. The Sony XC-75 high resolution monochrome CCD camera offers a suitable amount of resolution and dynamic range (grayscales). A fiber optic area backlight is placed underneath the slotted trough to diffusely illuminate the pills. The Bandit capture board is used to digitize the camera signal for further image processing. In order to meet the minimum contrast level, filtering is required. The process of the filter selection is shown below.

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Topics of Interest
It is not uncommon for a customer to struggle with contrast and resolution problems within an imaging system, while underestimating the power of proper illumination. In fact, the desired image quality... (Read More)
Above photo and schematic shows imaging lens prototyped with C-Mount components. A line generating laser is mounted in the assembly for presence detection of pharmaceutical pills on an assembly line. (Read More)
A pharmaceutical application for coating pills. This coating plays an important role in many medications. Pill coating makes taking pills more pleasant and more importantly it makes certain the pill... (Read More)
Defining your System Parameters: It is important to establish the fundamental system parameters for your application. From the fundamental parameters (FOV, WD, Resolution, etc.) and a few... (Read More)
Filters can be used to attenuate light either evenly across a certain portion of the spectrum (neutral density, polarizing, retarders, etc.) or unevenly (ie. interference, dichroic, color). Typical... (Read More)