Pattern matching

Finding patterns and reporting their location quickly and accurately is essential in today's high-precision electronics and semiconductor manufacturing environments. Traditional pattern recognition tools (correlation) cannot cope with changes due to process variations and adverse conditions. A new geometric-based search technique is proving to be extremely reliable in locating the position and orientation of a pattern despite highly degraded images.

Machine vision has evolved to become a mainstream automation tool enabling computers to replace human vision in high speed and high-precision manufacturing applications. Today, machine vision is being used to automate processing and ensure quality in manufacturing everything from diapers to the most advanced computer chips.

Two industries that have "pushed the envelope" of machine vision technology are semiconductors and electronics. In these segments, machine vision tools are used to precisely guide a variety of robotic handling, assembly, and inspection processes. The most significant challenge for machine vision in these automated applications is maintaining the ability to locate reference patterns despite changes in material appearance.