Faico Machine Vision

Machine Vision Technology performs advanced image processing analysis to extract data on industrial processes and conduct visual inspections. Therefore machine vision-based systems are often said to have the ability “to see” and “inspect” avoiding the mistakes of human performance.

Machine vision-based systems are applied to provide industrial solutions in inspections, monitoring, quality control and automation processes:

Defect Detection: aesthetic - dimensional - functional - product assembly
Surface Inspection
Metrology (2D/3D)
Color and Tone Control
Data Reading
Product Position Detection
Robot Guidance
Surveillance Systems

In FAICO, we implement machine vision technology with several applications:

AGROFOOD AND FISHERY INDUSTRY

FAICO applies hyperspectral image analysis techniques to test fresh food quality, detect defects and the ripeness level of fruits and vegetables and to sort out products in automated processes:

Testing Vegetables and Fruits Quality, Size and Thickness
Selection of 3 different quality levels and 4 thickness/size levels (5 units/second).

Stone Fruits (peach, plums and nectarines), apples, oranges and tomatoes.

Automated system for the detection of morphological malformations, gender and status (alive/dead) of sea fishes and crayfishes in fish farms (4 units/second).

PACKAGING AND LABELING

Identification of code characters in olive oil tins (100 units/minute)
Detection of positions and angles of plastic bags containing green olives (40 hnits/minute)

METROLOGICAL CONTROL

Relay pieces (4 units/second)
Industrial Tooling Enclosures (1 unit/second)
Olive Oil Bottle Forming (300 units/minute)

ONGOING PROJECTS

GEEWHEZ

Management and Leisure Middleware for Theme Parks and Zoo (FP7-SME-2011-1) Under Negotiation

The project aims at developing a customized Resource Planning Solution for Animal and Theme Parks. The new platform will manage all the operations among several software modules and clients to provide a complete service with different levels of user access. In GEEWHEZ, FAICO will apply machine vision technologies to optimize the surveillance systems in the parks by identifying and controlling visitors flows, individuals and unusual events.

A2 TRANSFER

Transfer of Automation Technologies in the Agrofood Industry in the Regions of Andalusia and Alentejo (Spain and Portugal). Funding Programme: POCTEP

The goal of the project is to develop a technology transfer model throughout the implementation of 10 advanced solutions in 10 SMEs of the agrofood industry in two regions of Spain and Portugal. The project will focus on:

The identification of state-of-the-art solutions for the agrofood industry.
Simulation Models for the technologies previously identified.
Virtual implementation of simulation models.
Financial and Technical Feasibility Study on the implementation of the simulation models.
Establishing cooperation networks for the technology transfer process within the POCTEP areas.

In this project, FAICO will provide technical consulting services regarding the applications of machine vision-based systems in the agrofood industry (packaging, process automation, robotics, etc.). FAICO will be involved in these WPs:

Diagnosis of state-of-the-art Technologies for the Agrofood Industry.
Improvement Matrix of Existing Technologies and Methodologies.
Analysis, Detection and Optimization of the Technology Transfer Process.
Implementation and Validation of Solutions in the SMEs

RETICs

Ocular Pathology for Ageing, Visual and Life Quality. Funding: Spanish Ministry for Health

RETICs project aims at creating a research and innovation node to coordinate and implement joint research strategies on Ocular Pathology for Ageing, Visual and Life Quality in order to improve life quality. As Technology and Innovation Center with expertise in Optics Engineering, FAICO participates in the national node together with Research Centers and Medical Institutions.

TERMOGRAPHIC MONITORING

Thermographic Monitoring of Industrial Ovens of Cement. Funding: Spanish Ministry for Industry

The objective of the project is to develop a WOA platform (web oriented architecture) and a set of temperature control devices in industrial cement ovens to improve the energy efficiency. In this project, FAICO will design and integrate optical components of the IR system and will conduct the validation trials.

DETECTION OF MORPHOLOGICAL MALFORMATIONS

Detection of Morphological Malformations of Sea Fishes in a Fish Farm Using Machine Vision Technologies. Funding: Andalusian Department for Sciences and Innovation

The scope of the project is the implementation of a pilot plant to detect morphological malformations of sea‐water fishes in fish farms. FAICO will apply machine vision technologies to identify and sort out healthy fishes and fishes with morphological malformations. In addition, FAICO will implement and manage the database generated in the process and will monitor the quality process.

CLASSIFICATION OF CRAYFISHES

Automated Processing Plant of Crayfishes. Detection and Classification of Crayfishes. Funding (private).

The project aims at optimizing an automated factory in which crayfishes are processes. In this project, FAICO will apply image processing techniques to classify crayfishes by status (alive/dead) and gender.