Camera and light placement for automated assembly inspection

Visual assembly inspection can provide a low cost, accurate, and efficient solution to the automated assembly inspection problem, which is a crucial component of any automated assembly manufacturing process. The performance of such an inspection system is heavily dependent on the placement of the camera and light source. This article presents new algorithms that use the CAD model of a finished assembly for placing the camera and light source to optimize the performance of an automated assembly inspection algorithm. This general-purpose algorithm utilizes the component material properties and the contact information from the CAD model of the assembly, along with standard computer graphics hardware and physically accurate lighting models, to determine the effects of camera and light source placement on the performance of an inspection algorithm. The effectiveness of the algorithms is illustrated on a typical mechanical assembly.