Due to its speed and accuracy, laser marking is widely established in industries with high volume production lines, particularly the aerospace, automotive, medical, clock making and electronics sectors.
Its ability to mark materials (metal or plastic), regardless of hardness or surface texture makes it an ideal solution for production part marking. The demand for comprehensive traceability solutions is growing, and laser-engraved codes are particularly resilient to temperature and mechanical stress, making them an advantageous technology for several industries requiring a robust traceability solution.
Problem
The flip-side of the technology is reading the marks back. In this case, the very lack of restriction for laser marking can mean it is necessary to read from any shape, colour and/or material of a part.
These circumstances call for a more sophisticated lighting solution than the one that may be supplied with your camera, especially if it is a standard mono-directional, single colour (often red) integrated light.
Solution
Green LEDs: Green lighting uses the brightest part of the spectrum of visible light (our eyes are more sensitive to this part of the spectrum than any other), and so provides the greatest range of available luminosity.
Diffusion dome: The diffusion dome reduces reflection, shade and shadow which may be caused by ambient lighting; this brings a superior degree of control to your machine vision solution when combined with adjustable lighting.
Modular lighting: Completing your machine vision lighting with an adjustable solution will allow it to be fine-tuned to the specific application.
