An automatic sorting system for sorting metal cylindrical workpiece based on machine vision and PLC technology

Metal cylinder is widely used as an important workpiece in machinery, its precision determines the accuracy and quality of mechanical resembling. In this paper, the feature recognition of edge burr on metal cylindrical workpiece and its automatic sorting method have been researched based on machine vision and Programmable Logic Controller (PLC). Firstly, an automatic sorting system with Charge Coupled Device (CCD) cameras is built. Secondly, an image process algorithm is designed to recognize and detect the edge burr feature of the workpiece. Then, a controlling strategy based on PLC's data register is devised to control the sorting process. Finally, some experiments are implemented with the sorting platform to verify the validity of the system. The results of the experiments show the system can sort the cylindrical workpiece accurately and efficiently.