Gerhard Schubert can look back on four decades of technological innovation in image processing. The pioneering work began with a visionary collaboration with the Karlsruhe Nuclear Research Center in the mid-1980s. Four decades after the development of the first system, the company has a comprehensive portfolio that Schubert is continuously expanding. In future, the 2D and 3D scanners will be supplemented by an even more compact solution. A tracking scanner combines both technologies.
Schubert looks back on 40 years of image processing
Image processing technology is an integral part of efficient quality assurance. This is ensured by the versatile scanners that Schubert has continuously improved over 40 years and has integrated into around 1,000 packaging machines worldwide to date. “Schubert scanners are now standard equipment on pick & place packaging lines,” explains Daniel Greb, Head of Image Processing at Schubert. “Our solutions make a decisive contribution to product quality and safety in the food, pharmaceutical, cosmetics and animal feed industries.”
Tracking scanner combines 2D and 3D scanners in one compact device
While 2D incident light scanners enable efficient color and surface inspection, 3D scanners also check the height of stacked products, for example. The camera-based inspection devices record the shape, dimensions and other parameters of different products within the packaging line. The company has now added a more compact solution to the two established variants. The new tracking scanner integrates the functions of 2D and 3D scanners as a multifunctional tool for product detection. The focus is still on the detection of product position and quality, with one significant difference. “Instead of manufacturing scanners of different sizes as we have done in the past, we are working on a 600-millimetre-wide standard module,” explains Greb. Maintenance and cleaning are also much easier. “As a result, we are on track to significantly expand our lead in the field of image processing.”
Pioneering cooperation from Pacos to tracking scanners
Schubert's global success in image processing can be traced back to the idea of two visionary scientists, whom Schubert brought from Karlsruhe to Crailsheim in the mid-1980s. With Dr. Abdelmalek Nasraoui and Dr. Josef Pecht, the machine manufacturer gained two experts who co-founded modern image processing and developed it further at Schubert. Starting with the Pattern Considering System (Pacos), ever faster and more precise solutions were developed: When packing small parts, Pacos recognized disordered objects on the product conveyor. This was particularly suitable for pick-and-place applications.
At the end of the 1980s, line sensors brought the decisive turning point. Unlike cameras, they are less susceptible to optical effects and detect the entire product flow. Since then, the company has incorporated them into the first scanners, of which it has developed several variants up to the well-known solutions that are in use worldwide today.
