The European Machine Vision Association currently represents about 150 members from 26 nations and promotes the wider adoption, standardization, and use of vision technology.
To support the achievement of EMVA’s ambitious mid-term growth targets we are looking for a:
This is an exciting opportunity to shape the future of a leading international industry association. Working closely with the General Manager and Board of Directors, this role would suit an ambitious individual with a strong background in active business development and the commitment and enthusiasm to drive projects to successful outcomes, while offering substantial opportunity to grow with the association.
Download the profile (see right hand column) and learn more about the proposed flexible contract terms by contacting us.
The EMVA will offer a series of four free 30 min webinars including interactive questions and answers on the EMVA1288 standard to characterize cameras in an objective way.
The webinars provide the necessary knowledge to select the best possible camera for a given application using the EMVA 1288 summary data sheet and all the knowledge required to be certified as an EMVA 1288 user. The speaker is Prof. Dr. Bernd Jähne (HCI, Heidelberg University and the chair of the EMVA1288 group).
Webinar 1 – Tuesday, September 21, 2021, 4 pm. CEST: Why is an image sensor not perfect? Or – what effects degrade the signal of a camera?
Explained with a series of direct demonstrations to show the basic degradations: temporal noise, nonuniformity, and dark current.
Webinar 2 – Wednesday, September 22, 2021, 4 pm. CEST: The basic parameters of the EMVA 1288 standard Release 4 Linear and General
The standard Release 4 covers a much wider range of cameras: linear, non-linear, without and with lens, with preprocessing, and multimodal sensors such as polarization and multspectral imagers. Still a small set of parameters is sufficient to characterize a camera. It is explained how this parameters can quantitatively and in an objective manner describe the quality of cameras. And it is shown how accurately can they be measured.
Webinar 3 – Monday, September 27, 2021, 4 pm. CEST: What you should know about your application to select the best camera for it?
The conditions under which you have to take images, the kind of information you need to extract out of the acquired images and the kind of image processing algorithms used decides which EMVA 1288 parameters are the most critical ones and therefore which camera is the best.
Webinar 4 – Tuesday, September 28, 2021, 4 pm. CEST: How to perform camera comparison in practice using the EMVA 1288 summary datasheet?
In this webinar we apply what we have learned in the first three webinars. We use the standardized EMVA 1288 summary sheet from several cameras and then study which of the cameras is the best for different real-world application scenarios.
EMVA Standards Manager Werner Feith will present new developments in a STANDARDS UPDATE at the online Vision Spectra Conference on Thursday, July 22, 2021 – 17:00 CET.
The online presentation will provide a development overview on global and EMVA Vision Standards.
Barcelona, 21 June, 2021. The EMVA today announced that the new release 4.0 of the EMVA 1288 Standard for objective characterization of industrial cameras, which is successfully used worldwide, has become effective. The release takes into account the rapid development of camera and image sensor technology. The documents of the standard are published here. The EMVA 1288 standard, hosted by EMVA, is part of the global G3 standardization initiative in which the five leading machine vision organizations A3, CMVU, EMVA, JIIA, and VDMA cooperate.
Until the previous Release 3.1 dated back December 2016, the application of the EMVA 1288 standard with a simple linear model was limited to cameras with a linear response and without any pre-processing. While this model is being continued with some improvements in the ’Release 4.0 Linear’, a new module ‘Release 4.0 General’ has been added in the latest release. With it, the characterization of a non-linear camera or a camera with unknown pre-processing is possible even without any model due to the universal system-theoretical approach of the EMVA 1288 standard. Just as with the linear camera model, all application-related quality parameters can be measured in this way. With both modules “Linear” and “General” the same measurements are performed. Depending on the camera characteristics, the proper evaluation either according to the linear or general model is applied.
In addition, Release 4.0 includes numerous expansions to characterize the latest generation of image sensors and cameras according to the application. The most important of these are:
Extended wavelength range from UV to SWIR range.
Raw data of any given image acquisition modality can now be characterized according to the standard.
The versatile and universal analysis tools of the EMVA 1288 standard can also be applied to quantities calculated and derived from multiple channels. For polarization image sensors, these are, for example, the degree of polarization and the polarization angle.
Inhomogeneities are measured in detail and now decomposed into column, row, and pixel variations. They can now be determined with a new method at all intensity levels from just two captured images.
Optionally, cameras with optics or with illumination as given by the position of the exit pupil of the optics for which the image sensor was designed can be measured according to the standard. Thus, the standard is now also suitable for image sensors with pixels shifted towards the edge.
A more suitable measure for the linearity of the characteristic curve is introduced.
Along with the new version of the standard, the EMVA has prepared an extensive training program. Two- or three-day training programs for the new Release 4.0 will be held regularly in near future in cooperation with EMVA member companies. The new training program will also continue the successfully introduced certification program at expert level. This is intended for anyone who wants to acquire the necessary knowledge to perform EMVA 1288 measurements themselves and understand the measurement results in detail, whether in the development of new cameras, in quality control, or to understand exactly how a camera behaves for a specific application.
About EMVA
The European Machine Vision Association is a non-for-profit and non-commercial association representing the Machine Vision industry in Europe. The association was founded in 2003 to promote the development and use of vision technology in all sectors, and represents members from within Europe, North America, and Asia. The EMVA is open for all types of organizations having a stake in machine vision, computer vision, embedded vision or imaging technologies: manufacturers, system and machine builders, integrators, distributors, consultancies, research organizations and academia. All members – as the 100% owners of the association – benefit from the networking, cooperation, standardization, and the numerous and diverse activities of the EMVA. The EMVA is the host of four global machine vision standards: The two widely established standards GenICam and EMVA 1288 as well as the two standardization initiatives Open Optics Camera Interface (OOCI) and Embedded Vision Interface Standard (emVision).
Key Takeaways and Conference Attendees’ Feedback
Next physical 20th EMVA Business Conference to take place 12-14 May, 2022
Barcelona, 18 June, 2021. With a participation of 135 participants from 23 nations the 19th EMVA Business Conference Special Edition 2021 took place online last week. A total of 20 speeches, two fireside chats and two CEO/Management panel discussions covered virtually all current actual economic and technical topics that the machine vision world currently deals with. During the individual B2B sessions about 90 virtual bilateral video meetings were arranged between conference attendees before and after the conference program in the afternoons.
Positive Feedback to Online Format
In their feedback almost 95 percent of participants appreciated the EMVA’s decision to offer the conference in online format instead of cancel it. Here’s a few of the personal comments given about the conference:
“The best thing you can do to learn and be inspired by the innovative trends in the world of machine vision in a very condensed way.”
“As always excellent organization, great job everybody, especially in such difficult times!”
“Again although strange not to be face to face the EMVA did not disappoint with the organization of the event.”
“Thank you for putting on a great event and adjusting the timing to accommodate North American attendees.”
Key Takeaways
The top-class panel on the second conference day discussed the current status of Industry 4.0 and stated the term Industry 4.0 has already become a standard itself with AI and machine vision as core components such as in generating digital twins. However, industrial business models are often not as disruptive as in the end consumer business e.g. where the smartphone triggered a paradigm shift; but would rather put effort into improving business models instead of new business models. According to the panelists more data also requires increasing use of AI and digitalization automatically contributes to decarbonization. Vison as it was stated can provide the right data at the right time to make the right decision in Industry 4.0.
AI being a megatrend in the machine vision industry was present in various technical parts of the conference sessions. The keynote on the second day given by IBM Benelux CTO Wouter Denayer reflected on the current developments pledged to change the fundamental structure of neural networks towards Neural Symbolic AI Systems. Simply making networks bigger would not help in future and the increase in accuracy for training AI is no longer equivalent to the amount of energy input and pollution which makes carbon footprint of AI unjustifiable. Or as EMVA President Chris Yates put in his conference wrap-up: “With great power comes great responsibility”.
This conference also provided room to put early-stage innovators in the focus: No less than six companies in the initial or post star-up stage presented their innovations which circled around the big topic AI and Deep Learning focusing on logistics and complex inspection tasks on the factory floor. Other new approaches were presented in the area of feature-based and variable density 3D scanning; contactless traceability of items with a digital image; and combining brain and AI into an innovative decision-making system.
The CEO Panel Discussion on the pandemic impacts for the machine vision industry found that vision tech overall coped fairly well in the crisis due to its vertical market focus. Business expectations of the company leaders from Stemmer Imaging, Basler and Tiama Inspection were even that pre-pandemic business level can be achieved again within the current year 2021. One obstacle, however, could be the lasting material shortage which affects virtually all components. In addition, Covid-19 taught that more elements of value generation need to move closer to the customer in all regions of business activity enabling to react on-site. The crisis was a big push for remote maintenance and webinar business meetings saving travel costs, which will keep physical meetings lower even when restrictions are lifted.
In another presentation the European Photonics Industry Consortium (EPIC) announced the launch of the first industry association led Photonics index. The basket is composed of 65 public listed companies, quite a number of them from the machine vision world. The index is an excellent opportunity to reach out to the investors’ community.
Messe Stuttgart then gave an inside in how the trade show organizer suffered in the pandemic. Most important for the machine vision industry, Messe Stuttgart asked for some more patience regarding the final decision if VISION 2021 will take place as currently the stakeholders are interviewed; with so far rather good industry sentiment but mixed company feedback when it comes to exhibit.
The session on hyperspectral imaging summarized that HSI technology is scaling up quickly in the market as it has become easier to use and more affordable. It was pointed out that with hyperspectral imaging an additional layer of information regarding the nature and consistency of an object.
Machine vision in China was in the focus of the second fireside chat. Electronics and Semiconductor are the largest industrial user sectors of machine vision in China, according to CMVU president Isabel Yang. The country experiences a huge 30 percent increase in business after the crisis, mainly pushed by a rising level of automation. 3D imaging finds a lot of attention which led to the formation of a 3D standard group. Also IR imaging gains attention.
The next physical 20th EMVA Business Conference will take place 12-14 May 2022 in Sofia, Bulgaria.
About EMVA
The European Machine Vision Association is a non-for-profit and non-commercial association representing the Machine Vision industry in Europe. The association was founded in 2003 to promote the development and use of vision technology in all sectors, and represents members from within Europe, North America, and Asia. The EMVA is open for all types of organizations having a stake in machine vision, computer vision, embedded vision or imaging technologies: manufacturers, system and machine builders, integrators, distributors, consultancies, research organizations and academia. All members – as the 100% owners of the association – benefit from the networking, cooperation, standardization, and the numerous and diverse activities of the EMVA. The EMVA is the host of four global machine vision standards: The two widely established standards GenICam and EMVA 1288 as well as the two standardization initiatives Open Optics Camera Interface (OOCI) and Embedded Vision Interface Standard (emVision).
Top Level Industry Manager Discuss Covid-19 Effects and State of Industry 4.0
Barcelona, 02 June, 2021. The two panel discussions on each of the conference days of the EMVA Business Conference Special Edition 2021 from June 10-11 could be headlined ‘Industry Leaders Share Their Thoughts’. Both panels will be seated with top level industry managers who give their position on topics that currently drive the entire industry.
‘What has changed through COVID in our Industry? What will stay?’
The Panel Discussion on the first conference day June 10th has no less than three CEOs of European players on the virtual stage who will discuss the impact and opportunities of machine vision in a pandemic. The panelists are Arne Dehn, CEO at Stemmer Imaging; Dr. Dietmar Ley, CEO at Basler; and Max Hodeau, CEO at TIAMA Inspection. The panel will be moderated by inVision Editor-in-Chief, Dr. Peter Ebert who will address aspects such as the rise of remote working; the shortage in supply of semiconductor chips; the future role of virtual and physical trade shows and new ways of lead generation; as well as a business outlook for the machine vision sector over the next few years.
Panelists from left to right: Arne Dehn, Stemmer Imaging; Dr. Dietmar Ley, Basler; Max Hodeau, TIAMA Inspection; Moderator Dr. Peter Ebert inVision Magazine.
‘Industry 4.0: Emerging from the Early Years’ on Friday June 11
Industry 4.0 has long evolved from an empty marketing buzzword to the next logic step in industrial automation. Digitalization has even accelerated in the Corona pandemic, according to experts. In the panel discussion on the second day of the EBC Special Edition 2021 three deep insiders and CEOs discuss the current status of Industry 4.0. The experts are Dr. Gunther Kegel, CEO at Pepperl+Fuchs, President of ZVEI; Dr. Roman Dumitrescu, Director Fraunhofer IEM, MD of cluster ‘it’s OWL’; and Dr. Thomas Scheiter, Head of Technology Field ‘IoT’ at Siemens. The panelists will be talking about the challenges and opportunities in capturing, accessing, and aggregating data as Industry 4.0 matures; the role of AI evolving within Industry 4.0 and how companies can maintain or extend their competence; approaches do you see that may be indicative of a future market structure; and areas of innovation they see having the potential to most disrupt or shape our future in industry. The panel will be moderated by Dr. Kai-Udo Modrich, Head of Zeiss Inline Inspection & Metrology and member of the EMVA Board of Directors.
Panelists from left to right: Dr. Gunther Kegel, Pepperl+Fuchs / ZVEI; Dr. Roman Dumitrescu, Fraunhofer / ‘it’s OWL’; Dr. Thomas Scheiter, Siemens; Moderator: Dr. Kai-Udo Modrich, Zeiss
More information on the full program of the EMVA Business Conference Special Edition 2021 and how to register can be found at http://www.business-conference-emva.org/.
About EMVA
The European Machine Vision Association is a non-for-profit and non-commercial association representing the Machine Vision industry in Europe. The association was founded in 2003 to promote the development and use of vision technology in all sectors, and represents members from within Europe, North America, and Asia. The EMVA is open for all types of organizations having a stake in machine vision, computer vision, embedded vision or imaging technologies: manufacturers, system and machine builders, integrators, distributors, consultancies, research organizations and academia. All members – as the 100% owners of the association – benefit from the networking, cooperation, standardization, and the numerous and diverse activities of the EMVA. The EMVA is the host of four global machine vision standards: The two widely established standards GenICam and EMVA 1288 as well as the two standardization initiatives Open Optics Camera Interface (OOCI) and Embedded Vision Interface Standard (emVision).
Tribute to Gabriele Jansen after two decades of engagement
Barcelona, 01 June, 2021. The General Assembly of the European Machine Vision Association (EMVA), due to the ongoing Covid-19 restrictions taking place in an online format June 1st, 2021, has elected the new EMVA Board of Directors. For the upcoming three-year term, the new board consists of nine members, namely
Arnaud Destruels, Sony Europe B.V (Image Sensing Solutions)
Arndt Bake, Basler
Prof. Dr. Bernd Jähne, Heidelberg Collaboratory for Image Processing of Heidelberg University
Dr. Chris Yates, Vision Ventures
Dr. Christoph Garbe, HD Vision Systems
Dr. Dirk Berndt, Fraunhofer Institute for Factory Operation and Automation IFF
Dr. Kai-Udo Modrich, ZEISS Inline Inspection & Metrology
Dr. Marco Diani, iMAGE S
Dr. Ronald Mueller, Vision Markets
The new elected Board of Directors will have its constituent in-person meeting as soon as possible and by then vote on the roles of EMVA President; Vice President and Treasurer amongst its members.
In a series of emotional farewell video statements many leaders of machine vision players gave their tribute to Gabriele Jansen who chose not to candidate for another term. Gabriele Jansen has been founding member of the EMVA and Board member since the association was established in 2003, making her the longest serving EMVA Board member in the association’s history. From 2003 – 2009 Gabriele Jansen served as EMVA President.
Also stepping down from the EMVA Board are Jochem Herrmann who acted as EMVA President from 2015 – 2019; Jean Caron who was EMVA Board member and Treasurer from 2015 – 2021; and Michel Ollivier who was EMVA Vice President from 2015 – 2021.
About EMVA
The European Machine Vision Association is a non-for-profit and non-commercial association representing the Machine Vision industry in Europe. The association was founded in 2003 to promote the development and use of vision technology in all sectors, and represents members from within Europe, North America, and Asia. The EMVA is open for all types of organizations having a stake in machine vision, computer vision, embedded vision or imaging technologies: manufacturers, system and machine builders, integrators, distributors, consultancies, research organizations and academia. All members – as the 100% owners of the association – benefit from the networking, cooperation, standardization, and the numerous and diverse activities of the EMVA. The EMVA is the host of four global machine vision standards: The two widely established standards GenICam and EMVA 1288 as well as the two standardization initiatives Open Optics Camera Interface (OOCI) and Embedded Vision Interface Standard (emVision).
Today we proudly present our two extraordinary keynote presenters at this year’s EMVA Business Conference taking place as Special Edition 10-11 June 2021 in an online format.
With the CTO of IBM BeLux, Mr. WOUTER DENAYER, we could win a TED speaker to share his thoughts on Artificial Intelligence with us. Wouter is a technology optimist. He is on a mission to strip away both hype and fear surrounding Artificial Intelligence, so that its true potential for society and business can be realized.
With a degree in linguistics & literature to balance his inner geek, Wouter Denayer architects IT solutions that actually deliver their promised value. He feels privileged every day to work with a diverse and global team of wonderful colleagues.
In his conference opening keynote Mr. LIAM HALLIGAN will cover, in a concise and accessible manner, the main trends and dangers as the world economy emerges from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Besides the two excellent keynote talks the afternoon conference tracks offer panel discussions, fireside-chats and further informative presentations addressing various Vision Tech topics that matter. Reserve your seat right now and register by clicking below button.
Artificial Intelligence – a Blessing and a Curse
Wouter Denayer | CTO at IBM BeLux
When reading the press, you might get the impression that Artificial Intelligence is either the largest possible evil or the best invention ever. So, which is it?
On the one hand we depend on AI to create new medicine and on the other we have seen some painful failures pointing to a lack of ‘common sense’.
Join Wouter to get a balanced view of what the future will bring and what your role is in this unfolding story.
The Big Picture: Global Economic Outlook
Liam Halligan | Presenter, Economics & Business Editor at The Telegraph
Liam Halligan is an economist, author and broadcaster – who also has extensive business experience. He is best known for his long-standing weekly “Economics Agenda” column in The Sunday Telegraph – which enjoys a large international following and has been recognized with a British Press Award.
Along with his Telegraph role, Liam writes regularly for The Spectator and The Sun and has previously worked for The Financial Times (as Political Correspondent), The Economist (reporting from Moscow) and between 1999 and 2006 was Economics Correspondent at Channel 4 News. He continues to research, write and present Dispatches documentaries for Channel 4 – and has won Wincott Business Broadcasting Award an unprecedented four times.
Liam has also held research posts at the International Monetary Fund and the London School of Economics. He holds degrees in economics from the University of Oxford and Warwick University.
Traditionally the annual EMVA General Assembly takes place connected to the Business Conference and therefore each year in a different European city.
With postponing this year’s physical conference and announcing the EMVA Business Conference Special Edition 2021 also the General Assembly 2021 is shifted into the virtual space.
During the EMVA General Assembly taking place June 1st, 2021, 3-5 pm. CEST, EMVA members will be asked to elect the new Board of Directors for the next period of three years.
Representatives of EMVA member entities have already received their invitation to volunteer and candidate.
The EMVA welcomes Imalligent Technology from China.
Imalligent Technology, founded in 2015, is a well-known domestic manufacturer of machine vision products, specializing in the production, R & D and sales of machine vision products. Since the establishment of the enterprise, it has deeply cultivated the practical problems encountered by users at the application level, combined with 3D machine vision innovation technology, to provide users with the most landing visual solutions.
The EMVA will offer a series of four free 30 min webinars including interactive questions and answers on the EMVA1288 standard to characterize cameras in an objective way.
When reading the press, you might get the impression that Artificial Intelligence is either the largest possible evil or the best invention ever. So, which is it?
Liam Halligan is an economist, author and broadcaster – who also has extensive business experience. He is best known for his long-standing weekly “Economics Agenda” column in The Sunday Telegraph – which enjoys a large international following and has been recognized with a British Press Award.
