Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft
Fraunhofer Institute for Optronics, Systems Technology and Image Exploitation researches and develops multisensory systems to support human’s perception and interaction. It ranges from the generation and automatic evaluation of aerial and satellite images, e.g. of a catastrophe area through to sorting and quality control of bulk goods like coffee beans or minerals.
If circumstances are too dangerous or inaccessible for human support, e.g. under water or in contaminate territories, mobile robots are used as sensor carriers to analyse the current situation. Transparent and interactive video systems ensure protection and safety. Thanks to the latest information technologies all these systems are connected. We also develop and provide associated Cyber Security Solutions.
We work on software for planning, controlling and the operation of industrial processes and we offer web technologies for information management in complex data bank systems, e.g. the collection of environmental data or for an intelligently linked and evaluated energy management.
The department of Visual Inspection Systems (SPR) develops and delivers systems for Automatic Visual Inspection tasks in the industry. SPR belongs to the Inspection and Visual Testing division and to the core competencies Optronics. The main areas of application are currently automatic inspection of blister packs in the pharmaceutical industry, automatic sorting of bulk goods, inspection of surfaces, colour measurement of granulate and print-layout checking. All of these applications are characterised by the fact that the inspection is performed at high throughput rates in real time during the manufacturing process, which thus calls for high performance image evaluation systems. The imaging sensors used are high-resolution line-scan cameras of various types (colour and grey scale). The image acquisition equipment is all customised for the specific task at hand, making particular use of folded beam paths and LED flash illumination. The products made by this department are in industrial use worldwide. Marketing and servicing are primarily provided by partner companies, but the division also develops some products specifically for end users, in which case it is also responsible for installation and servicing.