MatchIT Color Inspection System Copyright 2003 – 2006 Vision Machines Inc.

What is MatchIT? ● MatchIT is a unique new system for the inspection of multicolored, patterned, and textured materials. ● Designed with advanced digital imaging technology, MatchIT is ideal for measuring and controlling the appearance of natural and man-made multicolored objects of all sorts.

Why Is MatchIT Important? ● MatchIT can automatically image, inspect, and monitor the appearance of objects that were previously unmeasureable! ● MatchIT examines colors and textures – often the most critical characteristics of consumer products ● MatchIT judges objects objectively, faster and more accurately than human inspectors

Traditional monochrome inspection Color appearance analysis

What Can MatchIT Do? ● Accurately match samples based upon color and texture patterns ● Classify, grade, and sort ● Verify product appearance ● Find defects ● Assess visual similarity ALL WITHOUT ANY PROGRAMMING!

What Does MatchIT Consist of? MatchIT systems include a color video camera, illumination unit, PC, and special image analysis software. Configurations are available for online and offline inspection tasks and microscopy applications.

How Does MatchIT Work? ● MatchIT is trained, much like a human, to recognize patterns of colors and textures. References (single or averaged) are stored for comparison to new images. ● Image analysis uses pattern matching and true-color processing ● Calibration and supervised learning ensure robust performance

Matching Colors ● Matching occurs in a 3D color space (RGB, HSI, or LAB) ● Inspect complex and irregular color patterns ● Results are independent of sample orientation, spatial patterns, and image complexity

Matching Textures ● Involves the spatial arrangement of colors and intensities ● Handles homogeneous and non-homogeneous textures ● Operates in either grayscale or color texture mode ● Defects detected using color and/or texture The relative importance of color vs. texture is user-definable!

MatchIT Applications

Control or Sort Mixtures of Colors and Patterns ● Manufacturing process control ● Natural products ● Achieve accurate product mix by color Cereal inspection

Find Defects in Color Texture Patterns ● Not possible with grayscale processing ● Manual review may miss subtle color and texture changes ● Specific defect types may be trained and located Fabric inspection Do you see the color defect on the right side?

Grade Products ● Grading based on color and texture ● Quantify variation ● Rank order samples ● Agrees with human visual perception Leather inspection

Analyze Texture ● Ensure homogeneity and percent coverage ● Measure surface roughness ● Correlate visual with physical texture Cement inspection

MatchIT Software Grading ground beef

MatchIT in Action ● Objective: Locate defect(s) in textured material ● Challenge: Defects may be subtle variations in color and/or texture, within a highly textured image Note the two defects

MatchIT In Action (continued) Results of defect detection

MatchIT Calibration Color target ● Color calibration ensures repeatable results despite changes in illumination and/or image capture hardware ● Traceable standard

Typical Applications ● Materials – textiles, leather, paper, plastics ● Building – tile, carpet, granite, marble, wood, countertops, wallpaper ● Food – meats, fruits, vegetables, cheese, baked goods, contaminants ● Medical – dermatology, pathology, dentistry, pharmaceuticals ● Manufacturing – thin films, thermal analysis, lot matching, material optimization, wear testing, abrasives, filters, and fibrous material ● Graphic Arts – color printing and reproduction, proofing ● Consumer – cosmetics, jewelry, packaging, paint and stain ● Scientific – microscopy, fluorescence, material analysis ● Miscellaneous – agriculture, forensics, museum artwork

More Inspection Examples Stained Wood Corian TM Human Skin Food Fabric Marble Wallpaper Thin Film

Key Benefits ● Inspect multicolored, textured, and patterned objects with ease ● No programming ● Train in minutes by showing examples ● Fast processing of a large area

Key Benefits (continued) ● Built-in pattern recognition and learning capabilities ● No user data analysis ● Handle complex or noisy images ● No restrictions on sample size or viewing geometry

Configurations ● Offline system (standard) ● Online system (customized) ● Microscope-based systems ● OEM kits (customized) ● End-user software package Microscope system performing thin film analysis

The MatchIT Advantage ● Inspection and measurement capability not previously available ● Ideal tool for Quality Control and R&D ● Adaptable for multi-purpose use ● Faster and more accurate than human inspectors ● Extremely short learning curve – pushbutton operation! ● Low cost and quick ROI

MatchIT Color Inspection System The Next Generation in Color-Based Automated Inspection From Vision Machines For more information, visit