In this blog post, we will be discussing the 3D camera MotionCam-3D by Photoneo. This camera is powered by a novel, patented technology of Parallel Structured Light and enables the automation of industrial applications in a wide range of sectors, including manufacturing, logistics, automotive, grocery, medical, and others. On the one hand, the camera helps automate monotonous and risky tasks, on the other, it helps increase the productivity, efficiency, accuracy, and reliability in manufacturing, fulfillment, or inspection applications. We will be discussing the features of this camera and how it can benefit those who use it.
What is the 3D camera MotionCam-3D?
The 3D camera MotionCam-3D is a high-resolution and high-accuracy, three-dimensional area-scan camera that can capture high-quality images of objects in motion in the form of a 3D point cloud.
In other words, it is a robotic “eye” that can be used for a variety of applications to automate industrial, manufacturing, logistical, inspection, and other types of processes. By enabling robots to see, the camera allows them to manipulate objects in 3D space or evaluate their quality during manufacturing.
The most common applications include:
- Bin picking
- Palletization and depaletization
- Packaging
- Sorting
- Dimensioning
- Quality inspection
- And many others
What are the benefits of using the MotionCam-3D?
The MotionCam-3D and its new color version MotionCam-3D Color enable real-time creation of high-quality 3D point clouds of static as well as dynamic scenes. Expressed in numbers, the cameras can scan images moving up to 144 km/h (89 mph), providing a resolution of 0.9 Mpx and accuracy of 300 – 1,250 µm across their six models with different scanning ranges. The static mode offers a resolution and accuracy of 2 Mpx and 150 – 900 μm, respectively.
The unique technology can be used to navigate robots, inspect fast-moving objects, measure items to provide their precise dimensions at fast speed, or create real-time (and colorful) 3D models of moving scenes.
MotionCam-3D Color enables you to inspect or sort items based on their 3D geometry as well as color features. The game-changing combination of high-quality 3D data, color information, and the ability to scan in motion not only improves existing tasks but also enables completely new AI-powered and decision-making applications. It also opens up new possibilities for virtual and augmented reality, the Metaverse, or digital twinning.
The camera’s key benefits include:
- Fast and accurate 3D reconstruction of static and dynamic scenes for the automation of industrial applications
- Area scanning of objects moving up to 144 km/h (no motion blur, in-depth data)
- Effective resistance to vibrations
- Unmatched resolution & accuracy:
- Dynamic mode: resolution of 0.9 Mpx, accuracy of 300 μm
- Static mode: resolution of 2 Mpx, accuracy of 150 μm
- High level of detail on edges
- Unrivaled scanning range from 36 cm up to 4 m thanks to 6 available models
- Lightweight and durable carbon body, IP65
- PoE or 24 V powering
- Easy setup
- On-board processing
How does the 3D camera MotionCam-3D work?
The Parallel Structured Light technology brings together the speed of active stereo and Time-of-Flight systems and the quality of structured light sensors. Yet, it represents a completely new, distinctive approach that required the development of a special, proprietary CMOS sensor, which fundamentally changes the way an image can be captured.
MotionCam-3D consists of a projector that emits light onto the scene, a camera unit that captures the scene, and a processing unit that computes the 3D data and sends it over the ethernet to a PC.
The projector sends a laser sweep across the scene and the camera constructs patterns on the other side – in the CMOS sensor. All this happens in one single time instance, which enables the construction of multiple virtual images within one exposure window – in parallel (as opposed to structured light’s sequential capture). This allows the capture of moving objects in high resolution and accuracy and without motion artifacts.
Conclusion
MotionCam-3D enables you to 3D scan also dynamic scenes, which expands the range of applications that can be automated to an unlimited extent.
Robotic tasks and machine vision applications are not limited any more to the handling of static objects so the operation flow does not need to be interrupted for each scan acquisition. This shortens cycle times, increases productivity and throughput, improves accuracy, and boosts the overal efficiency of operations.
