Photoneo wins the 2020 Award for Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Robotics & Automation from the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) with its MotionCam-3D. This 3D scanner can rapidly capture moving objects.
MotionCam-3D offers the highest resolution and accuracy of any 3D camera available for capturing dynamic 3D images, according to Photoneo. For example, the camera can capture a point cloud with a resolution of 0.9 to 2 megapixels (for static images). In doing so, the camera compensates for vibrations and ambient light, which therefore has no impact on the 3D images being created.
Up to 40 metres per second
The camera can capture images moving at speeds of up to 40 metres per second, equivalent to about 140 kilometres per hour. The system can image objects between 36 cm and 3 metres.
To make this possible, the camera uses a technology called Parallel Structured Light. Whereas traditional 3D cameras take several sequential scans of an object and combine them into a 3D image, the MotionCam-3D takes just one snapshot. This means in practice, according to Photoneo, that moving parts can practically be frozen at the moment they are captured.
Award
The MotionCam-3D wins the IFR's 2020 Award for Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Robotics & Automation. This award honours inventors of valuable ideas and entrepreneur who turn these ideas into products. The award is sponsored by the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (IEEE/RAS) in collaboration with the IFR.
Finalists present their innovative product in a series of presentations. The winner will be chosen by a jury and will win a cash prize of $2,000, among other prizes. In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, the award was presented virtually this year.
"The award celebrates the combination of innovative concepts with entrepreneurship to market these ideas. This year's winner is a new 3D imaging system that combines the advantages of stereo vision with structured illumination methods to create a fast and accurate perception system with applications in society and industry," said IEEE-RAS jury member Robert Ambrose.
'Eyes with the highest resolution and accuracy'
"MotionCam-3D gives eyes to robots with the highest resolution and accuracy worldwide," explains Photoneo's Jan Zizka. "Our camera is capable of inspecting objects moving at speeds of up to 140 kilometres per hour. Its qualities are useful in diverse fields such as commerce and logistics, for object sorting and autonomous delivery systems. It also helps in food processing and waste sorting, as well as harvesting in agriculture. Precise machine vision also allows robots to analyse objects using high-resolution images, which is important in quality control."
Milton Guerry, president of the IFR, points out the importance of tools like MotionCam-3D. "A traditional industrial robot can easily be equipped with new tools to turn them into true collaborative helpers," Guerry said.
Further information about the MotionCam-3D is available here. Visit the IFR website for more information about the 2020 Award for Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Robotics & Automation. Previous winners of the award can be found here.
Author: Wouter Hoeffnagel
