The core role of industrial lenses in visual systems

With the development of automation and intelligent manufacturing, machine vision systems have become an important tool for improving production efficiency and controlling product quality. In the entire machine vision system, industrial lenses are the core components of image acquisition. Their performance directly determines the upper limit of the imaging quality of the visual system. The following will analyze the role and value of industrial lenses in the visual system.

I. Industrial lenses: not only "see clearly", but also "see accurately"

People who don't understand the product always think that the lens is just a component for "taking pictures", but in industrial scenarios, the lens's task is far more than that. Industrial lenses must not only ensure high-resolution imaging, but also meet the following core requirements in complex application environments:

Product resolution: The lens must accurately restore every pixel of the sensor, especially when paired with a high-pixel camera, it must have matching MTF performance;

Low distortion design: Distortion will affect measurement accuracy, especially in positioning and size detection tasks, it is necessary to choose a lens with extremely low distortion;

High light transmittance and uniform illumination: Good light transmittance performance and edge illumination balance can significantly improve image brightness consistency;

Resistant to industrial environments: such as dustproof, shockproof, high temperature resistance, etc., to ensure long-term stable operation.

For example, in the FPC solder joint inspection of the 3C electronics industry, it is often necessary to capture micron-level feature details, which places extremely high demands on the resolution and depth of field control capabilities of the lens. In such scenarios, it is often necessary to select high-performance industrial lenses with 5MP or higher pixels, 1.1-inch target surface, and telecentric design.

II. Matching sensors: The first principle for selecting lenses

The matching of lenses and image sensors is the foundation of the quality of system imaging.

Target surface matching: If the imaging circle of the lens is smaller than the sensor size, it will cause dark corners or image distortion;

Pixel size adaptation: As the pixel size of CMOS sensors becomes smaller and smaller (commonly 2.4µm, 2.9µm, etc.), the lens needs higher resolution capabilities to avoid blurred imaging;

Focal length and field of view matching: Select a suitable focal length lens according to the working distance and field of view to ensure full coverage of the inspection area without losing details.

Therefore, professional lens suppliers usually provide matching recommendation tables to assist customers in quickly completing system selection.

III. Wide application in the industry, diverse roles of industrial lenses

1. Food and pharmaceutical packaging inspection

Used for tasks such as barcode recognition, bottle cap sealing, label positioning, etc., FA lenses are usually used, requiring high brightness, low distortion and medium resolution.

2. Auto parts size measurement

High-precision measurement is required, such as piston aperture, gear shape, etc., which requires telecentric lenses to eliminate parallax errors and ensure stable measurement results.

3. Semiconductor and LCD panel inspection

These industries need to detect scratches, foreign objects or textures at the nanometer level, requiring high-end lenses with ultra-high resolution, low distortion and telecentric imaging.

4. Robot guidance and positioning

The lens often needs to have a large depth of field and a large field of view, and support anti-vibration installation, which is suitable for accurate identification and control in dynamic scenes.

IV. High-end lenses and domestic substitution trends go hand in hand

With the continuous improvement of the design and manufacturing level of domestic industrial lenses, more and more domestic companies have been able to provide lenses with a resolution of more than 200 lp/mm and support 1.1 inches or larger target surface to meet the needs of high-resolution camera matching. At the same time, lenses with ultra-low distortion (less than 0.05%) and telecentric structures are becoming more and more abundant, providing cost-effective solutions for domestic machine vision systems in measurement, positioning, identification and other tasks.

When building a stable and reliable visual system, industrial lenses are no longer just accessories for machine production, but core optical components that affect the imaging quality and inspection accuracy of the entire system. Choosing a lens with excellent performance, matching parameters and suitable applications will bring qualitative improvements to the operating stability of the entire system and product quality control.