Adaptive Lighting for Machine Vision Applications

Illumination in the context of machine vision is critical and its design has been manual in nature. The advent of small projectors at lower costs has created a wide range of possibilities presenting an opportunity to leverage in pursuit of automating the lighting. We propose the use of a projector and a camera in order to provide high contrast image where the projector has a role in highlighting dull parts of the scene and reducing light on shiny areas that tend to saturate the camera. The problem is ill-posed and hence we seek a semi-automated solution. This approach is opposite in direction to existing studies on projector camera systems which tend to superimpose a secondary image on a surface and correct for optimal viewing of the former. The configuration aims to enhance the capabilities of a smart camera to reduce manual lighting design and present a more unified system than existing smart cameras in the field.