History of Machine Vision Development
Machine vision technology is an important branch of computer science. Since its inception, machine vision has been around for more than 20 years. Its functions and applications have been gradually improved and promoted with the development of industrial automation.
Statistical pattern recognition of two-dimensional images began to be studied in the 1950s.
Roberts began his research on 3D machine vision in the 1960s.
In the mid-1970s, the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory officially launched a course on "machine vision".
Starting in the 1980s, a global research boom began, and machine vision experienced rapid development, with new concepts and theories constantly emerging.
The initial stage, from 1990 to 1998, saw negligible sales in the actual machine vision system market. Major international machine vision manufacturers had not yet entered the Chinese market. Before 1990, only a few laboratories in universities and research institutes conducted research on image processing and pattern recognition. In the early 1990s, some engineers from these research institutions established their own vision companies, developing the first generation of image processing products, enabling basic image processing and analysis. Although these companies successfully solved some practical problems using vision technology, such as multimedia processing, printed surface inspection, and license plate recognition, the insufficient functionality and reliability of the products' hardware and software limited their development potential in industrial applications. Another important factor was the limited market demand; many engineers in industry lacked a concept of machine vision, and many companies did not recognize the importance of quality control.
The second phase, from 1998 to 2002, is defined as the introduction period of the machine vision concept. Since 1998, an increasing number of electronics and semiconductor factories, including those invested in by Hong Kong and Taiwan, have established themselves in Guangdong and Shanghai. Complete production lines and advanced equipment incorporating machine vision were introduced to China. Following this trend, some manufacturers began to develop their own vision inspection equipment, marking the beginning of genuine market demand for machine vision. Equipment manufacturers or OEMs needed more external technical development support and product selection guidance. Some automation companies seized this opportunity, taking a different development path from the aforementioned image companies—becoming agents and system integrators for international machine vision suppliers. They imported the most advanced mature products from the US and Japan, provided professional training and consulting services to end users, and sometimes developed complete vision inspection equipment systems with their business partners.
After a long period of market development and cultivation, not only in the semiconductor and electronics industries, but also in industries such as automotive, food, beverage, and packaging, some top manufacturers have begun to recognize the important role of machine vision in improving product quality. During this stage, many well-known vision equipment suppliers, such as Cognex, Basler, DataTranslation, TEO, and Sony, began to seek local partners in the Chinese market, but suitable local partners were extremely rare.
The third stage, from 2002 to the present, is what we call the development period of machine vision. We can see the rapid growth trend of machine vision in China from the following points:
1. Across various industries, more and more customers are seeking visual inspection solutions. Machine vision can solve the problem of accurate measurement and improve the quality of their products. Some customers have even established their own vision departments.
2. A growing number of local companies are incorporating machine vision into their operations. These include distributors of general industrial control products, automation system integrators, and new vision companies. While most haven't yet seen significant returns, they all agree that the machine vision market has enormous potential. The lack of experienced vision engineers and practical project experience is their primary challenge.
3. Some companies with several years of practical experience are gradually defining their positioning to better develop their machine vision business. They either continue to improve their capabilities in acquiring cards and image software development, or attempt to become leading manufacturers providing industrial field solutions or visual inspection equipment. Simple agency remains part of their business, but they have begun to develop their own technologies or know-how at the component and system levels. 4. After several years of searching for agents, many multinational companies have begun to establish their own branches in China. They typically establish branches in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, Shenzhen, etc., to manage key clients and provide technical and business support to partners.
Current Status of Machine Vision Development
Machine vision has evolved far beyond a standalone application. Machine vision hardware and software products have become essential components in all stages of manufacturing, placing higher demands on system integration. Industrial automation companies require integrated industrial automation systems that can work collaboratively with testing or control systems, rather than standalone vision applications. In modern automated production processes, machine vision systems are widely used in areas such as condition monitoring, finished product inspection, and quality control.
VisionVision, a well-known company in the machine vision industry, has over a decade of experience and specializes in the production and sales of machine vision hardware and software products.
Current Status of the Machine Vision Industry in Major Regions
As global manufacturing centers shift to China, the Chinese machine vision market is becoming a key target market for international machine vision manufacturers, following North America, Europe, and Japan. Currently, the Asia-Pacific region, including China and Japan, accounts for over 20% of the global market, surpassing Europe and ranking as the world's second-largest regional market.
Machine vision market development trend
From the perspective of the industry development life cycle, the international machine vision industry is already in its mature stage. Driven by market trends such as Industry 4.0, it is expected that machine vision technologies in Europe, the United States, and Japan will continue to innovate over the next 3-5 years, and the international machine vision market is expected to maintain its current market size and continue to grow. The domestic machine vision industry is currently still in its growth stage. Judging from the situation in 2014 and 2015, my country's machine vision industry has accumulated sufficient technology, market, and industry experience, and has entered a stage of rapid development.
From a global market perspective, the machine vision industry has matured, and the number of machine vision patents in foreign markets has declined year by year in recent years (2006-2015). Global machine vision patents are mainly concentrated in developed countries such as the United States, Europe, and Japan, with Europe and the United States holding a dominant position in the field of machine vision technology.
Current Status of Domestic Patent Applications: Annual Patent Output Steadily Increases, Patent Holders Concentrated in Southeast Coastal Areas. Overall Trend of Domestic Machine Vision Patent Quantity from 2009 to 2015 (as of January 2016)
According to the "2016-2022 China Machine Vision Market Status Research and Development Trend Forecast Report" released by China Industry Research Network, the number of domestic machine vision patents is increasing year by year, and major universities and enterprises are investing heavily in research in the field of machine vision. The domestic machine vision industry is in a stage of rapid development. The domestic machine vision industry is mainly concentrated in developed coastal provinces and the Beijing area, with Jiangsu, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Beijing, and Shanghai accounting for 75% of the total number of patent applications nationwide.
Number of industry enterprises: There are now more than 100 international machine vision brands in China, and in addition to established brands like Vision, there are more than 102 Chinese machine vision companies. There are more than 200 machine vision product distributors and more than 50 professional machine vision system integrators, covering all machine vision industry chain products, from light sources, industrial cameras, industrial lenses, image acquisition cards and smart cameras.
Enterprise distribution
Currently, domestic machine vision companies are mainly located in the Pearl River Delta, Yangtze River Delta and Bohai Rim regions, with key companies distributed in provinces and cities such as Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shanghai and Beijing.
Since its inception in the 1980s, the domestic machine vision industry has undergone a difficult conceptual introduction, entering a development phase around 2002. Particularly noteworthy is the 2012 issuance of the "12th Five-Year Plan for the Development of High-End Equipment Manufacturing Industry" by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, which explicitly listed intelligent manufacturing equipment as one of the key development directions for the high-end equipment manufacturing industry. Between 2013 and 2015, with the rise of concepts such as "Industry 4.0" and "Made in China 2025," domestic machine vision companies sprang up like mushrooms after rain, significantly accelerating the industry's development. It is projected that the domestic machine vision industry's development phase will continue until around 2020, after which it will enter a mature stage.
Machine vision development trend
Machine vision can be considered the lowest level of infrastructure in artificial intelligence. Among the main application areas of artificial intelligence, machine vision has a very deep and wide range of applications. From the perspective of the entire industry chain, China's artificial intelligence industry is in a period of rapid ecosystem building.
From the perspective of the entire field of machine vision, it is in a period of rapid reconstruction. Market analysis shows that machine vision is not a particularly new field. It has evolved from the earliest image processing. Many large manufacturers in the market have been deeply involved in intelligent security and transportation for a long time. They did not start with machine vision or facial recognition. In these industries, many manufacturers are in a stage of rapid development and progress.
CCID Consulting predicts that China's artificial intelligence market size will exceed 40.6 billion yuan by 2018, with a compound annual growth rate of 25.8%, faster than the global growth rate. In terms of market structure, there are also overall trends. Regarding investment scale, both the total investment amount and the number of investments increased rapidly last year, and the number of companies engaged in artificial intelligence and machine vision also increased rapidly.
In the future, thanks to favorable policies in the field of artificial intelligence, there will be significant opportunities in these four areas: security, transportation, finance, and consumer electronics. These are the key application areas that the machine vision field is focusing on.
Firstly, the major players in machine vision and artificial intelligence are adopting an open-source approach. In China, for example, Huawei's open-source philosophy, and how to use it, still lags behind that of other countries. Many open-source projects are simply packaged and used internally. In fact, the overall approach to open-source is more advanced abroad. There are reasons behind this, and many companies are essentially following the path of open-source deployment when submitting AI code.
The evolution of the entire industry is currently in a period of rapid returns. While the evolution of the entire industry and product technology will experience cyclical fluctuations, the field of machine vision and computer vision is still in a period of rapid returns. This means that its technology has matured, market attention is rapidly recovering, and it is a key product and field that can achieve rapid returns in the future.
Finally, in the current development of the Chinese market, including government planning, the topic of smart cities has become popular again. Many cities were built many years ago, but their development was not particularly smooth. Now, with the development of the entire artificial intelligence industry, this momentum and boom are mainly due to the fact that technological strength can solve real needs and real problems. In terms of data, we predict that the number of smart cities built in China will exceed 500 this year. In terms of the industry definition of smart cities, the demand in the field of machine vision is particularly large. Many definitions of smart cities are based on the number of cameras, which is a very rigid standard. The demand for intelligent cameras, including those with facial recognition capabilities, will be very large in the future.
