Advantages of machine vision in reading bar codes

Reading codes, 1D and 2D, is a large and growing machine vision application area, yet there are still those who say laser scanners are sufficient. If that’s you, or maybe you’re just on the fence, (The “why use more tech than you need,” mindset,) take a look at “Image-Based ID Boosts Read Rates” (Control Design magazine, July 9^th, 2013.)

This gives a lot of detail about how the Cognex Dataman sensors do their job, but what I found more interesting was the explanation of the business benefits of higher read rates. Now if you’re at the grocery store checkout poor read rates are irritating, but in manufacturing they can be expensive, which is what the article describes. If justifying the upgrade to vision is giving you a headache, this article may offer some pointers.

And in case you think I’m plugging Cognex exclusively, let me remind you that Microscan also offers a very capable range of code reading products.