The magic of Moore's law and the incredible In-Sight 2800

The magic of Moore's Law
A cost that's going down. Now that would be a story these days.

As that old journalistic saying goes: 'when a dog bites a man, it's not news. But if a man bites a dog, well...'

In 2022, swap 'dog' with 'almost any business related expense, anywhere'. Or at least that's how it sometimes feels.

Time for some good news.

If you haven't heard the phrase Moore's Law before, you'll have certainly felt its effects. First coined by Gordon Moore - co-founder of Intel - it's that idea that every two years, computing power doubles while the cost of that technology halves. It explains how that smartphone in your pocket is now many times more powerful, computing-wise, than the Apollo moon lander.

50 years on, it still holds true. Not only does it show how we got here, from a pre-digital age, in just a few decades, but it reminds us that in almost every area of work, the fourth industrial revolution is only just beginning.

This month I'm sharing the latest example of Moore's Law in action. We take a deep dive into the new Cognex Insight L2800 camera; the most exciting entry level camera on the market. I show how new, cost-effective rapid inspections saved a million whisky bottles from the bin. And we bust some of the myths surrounding automation in the food industry which are now well past their 'used by' date.

Thanks for reading,

Martin

Low cost/ Deep learning: Meet the Cognex In-Sight 2800

The word groundbreaking is used a lot in product launches, but rarely justified. But when it comes to the new In-Sight 2800 Vision System from Cognex, it really is.

This new camera has the potential to kick-start the transformation of manufacturing, production, and industrial productivity like few things before it, and we’ve been itching to talk about it ever since we first tested it.

Here, in our latest deep dive, John explains why it's got him so excited, and what it means for you.

Busting the myths of automation in food processing

As our review of the In-Sight 2800 shows, when it comes to factory automation, the rules of the game have changed. Now everyone can play.

Not only does this new entry-level technology massively shift our perceptions of what processes can be inspected, but also who can afford it; welcome news when the price of almost everything else in business is rising.

John recently spoke to the magazine Food Processing UK to dispel a few of the best automation myths and discuss how the falling costs of vision is changing the industry for the better.

Automating luxury inspections which rely on
the human touch

Luxury bottling is one area of manufacturing where manual inspection still holds a powerful grip. And understandably so. The price of some premium champagnes, perfumes or whiskies can reach four or even five figures, with part of that price tag resting in the attention to detail that the human expert brings.

When a process is manual, it’s not repeatable. And when you rely on the human eye, issues will slip through. But as this recent factory trial shows, it’s now possible to use deep learning cameras to augment these manual inspections, using technology alongside humans to improve the quality and repeatability of inspections.

How we saved a million bottles from the bin

Talking of whisky, the 'water of life' may well be the original luxury drink. Such a premium product requires bottles of the highest quality that will stand years, even decades, of storage.

One manufacturer recently called us with a problem; they needed to rework 3 million whisky bottles... in under 10 weeks. They thought their choice was between manually checking each bottle, or binning the lot. We showed them there could be a third way; using rapid, automated inspection to solve serious rework situations.