Experience is a great teacher

Here’s a novelty: a press release that actually tells us something useful.

“Machine Vision in Wood Industry” tells the story of a vision system developed by an organization called Forintek, which apparently is Canada’s Wood Product Research Institute. (I’m neither Canadian nor a lumberjack, so I’m unfamiliar with the body.)

The system was developed to measure the quantity of “fines” in lumber being used for OSB structural wood panels. However, the goals of the system are not especially relevant. What caught my attention was the description of the vision system development process. Apparently, the first attempt was not too successful, because the developers went back and had another go.

The press release does a nice job of explaining the problems experienced, and why the various upgrades, such as a GigE camera, strobed LED lighting and LabVIEW software, were adopted. Apparently the system now functions much better and is being used by more than 10 OSB mills.

Experience is a great teacher. Take a few minutes to learn from the experience of others.