Virtual instead of on-site, but still with the usual high-quality program: On October 28, the 7th Annual Colloquium "Image Processing in Automation (BVAu 2020)" took place. It was hosted by the Institute for Industrial Information Technology (inIT) of the Ostwestfalen-Lippe University of Applied Sciences. More than 40 experts from business and science discussed online the latest trends and developments in the industry with the conclusion: industrial image processing and pattern recognition remains a key technology for future products and the basis for intelligent quality assurance systems.
The BVAu focuses on the latest developments and technologies in machine vision in the context of industrial automation. The main topics of this year's virtual conference were: Vision-Systems-on-Chip and Machine Learning as well as Deep Learning in Image Processing.
Professor Volker Lohweg, Institute Director at inIT, welcomed the participants to the web conference and emphasized: "We are pleased to be able to present and discuss the latest trends, findings and results from research and application in industry again this year. Due to Corona, the technical exchange among our experts will have to take place virtually, but in terms of content, the participants of BVAu 2020 will not have to do without anything."
Machine vision has established itself as a key technology in manufacturing companies and other industries. This applies to its use in quality assurance, machine condition monitoring, predictive maintenance, product analysis as well as human-computer interaction or medicine. Challenges for image-processing systems arise in particular from their application in automation systems. Information must be processed stably, securely and in real-time despite resource-limited hardware. The application areas of industrial image processing are diverse: industrial measurement and automation technology, mechanical and plant engineering, vehicles and robotics, assistance systems and human-machine systems, security technology and biometrics, life sciences or medical and health technology. Lohweg explains: "Interdisciplinary approaches from technology, biology and psychology enable new forward-looking solutions. The increased use of image processing creates new opportunities, but also new challenges to be solved."
Dr. Jens Döge from Fraunhofer IIS (Institute Division Development of Adaptive Systems EAS) gave the keynote address on "Low-latency monitoring and control of processes with vision systems-on-chip" at BVAu 2020. In addition, contributions from cutting-edge research as well as implementations of future-oriented technologies from industry were again presented at the annual colloquium. This year's presentations covered the topics of classification concepts, object recognition/tracking and quality control.
"Both keynote and technical contributions at this year's BVAu provided a good overview of the current state of the art and current trends in the area of industrial image processing and pattern recognition," summarizes conference director Prof. Volker Lohweg and also takes positive balance sheet of the web conference: "The challenge this year was to create interactivity. However, this also gave us the opportunity to reach a larger group of participants and we are pleased that we were able to hold the event. The work of everyone involved in the organization was very worthwhile." The next BVAu is scheduled to take place in Lemgo again in October 2022.
The colloquium is a forum for science and industry in the German-speaking region for all technical and scientific issues related to industrial image processing and pattern recognition. The colloquium is supported by the initiative "Industrial Image Processing OWL". Further information: www.jk-bvau.de