Slow down

We engineers tend to be action-oriented: our usual refrain is “why spend time planning when you could be doing something?” But deep down inside, we know that careful project definition and planning is the route to a successful project.

That’s the approach advocated by David Dechow, President of Aptúra Machine Vision Solutions. In the November 1st issue of “Test & Measurement World” David discusses why it’s premature to think abut vision hardware until you’ve properly understood the task. In “Starting point for vision success” David argues for using a checklist approach to ensure that all aspects of the proposed application are taken in to consideration.

Now I’ve tried checklists, and frankly I find them a little constraining. Or to put it another way, they can’t cover every relevant aspect of every possible application without becoming prohibitively cumbersome. But that said, if your vision application is going to be successful, it’s essential that you define thoroughly both what you want it do and the conditions under which you expect it to perform.

And if that last sentence has you puzzled, go read the article.