Machine vision and smart automation provider Photoneo has introduced a new version of its flagship 3D camera MotionCam-3D. Most importantly, the new version brings not only highly accurate 3D data and ability to scan in motion but can also now add color. This technology opens a lot of new possibilities for advanced automation including digital twining, VR, AR, AI, or even in the Metaverse.

Few features have been so much missed in the sector of industrial 3D vision and vision-guided robotics. This is because the ability to capture dynamic scenes and create their colorful 3D point clouds in real-time and perfect quality. Hence, high-quality data consisting of depth information, color, and motion remains critical for successful AI implementations. In addition, it enables demanding robotic decision-making applications as well as new megatrends such as virtual and augmented reality, the Metaverse, or digital twinning.

Three Core Properties

Marcel Svec, VP of Strategy and Product at Photoneo, said a perfect vision system needs to have three core properties. “First, it must provide high-quality 3D data, which is important for the recognition of an object’s position and orientation in 3D space. Second, the vision system should be able to work in a dynamic environment and provide a continuous stream of 3D point clouds without making any pauses for scan acquisition. Third, the vision system should be able to capture color information and match it with the 3D output. This is a crucial feature for AI-based machine vision algorithms.”

These three core properties on their own are not unique in the world of 3D vision. However, Svec said if combining them in one single device, “you get something special.” 

In addition, Svec said there has been a huge boom in vision-guided robotics as more and more industries are turning to automation via advanced 3D sensors. Nonetheless, he noted the color feature was a missing puzzle piece in the complex technological portfolio.

“With this new device, we are offering a chance to explore and discover new opportunities for the improvement of existing processes, not only in heavy industries but literally everywhere. You want to scan dynamic scenes in high quality? You can; You want to determine the ripeness of fruit? Also possible; You’re interested in picking and sorting color coded boxes? Sure, no problem. And this is just a tiny fraction of everything that you can achieve with our 3D vision.”

Opens New Automation Possibilities

MotionCam-3D Color is powered by Photoneo’s patented Parallel Structured Light technology. Thanks to a special, proprietary CMOS image sensor, the technology enables high-quality 3D scanning of dynamic scenes without motion artifacts. Moreover, the distinctive properties of MotionCam-3D Color revolutionize 3D vision. In addition, they open completely new automation possibilities for any type of project. The new application areas include demanding AI-powered decision-making applications that are based on advanced recognition and inspection of objects as well as new visualization applications that require the creation of 3D models, such as digital twinning or the Metaverse.