What is the industrial lens ？

What is the industrial lens ？

Industrial lens is a lens used to realize beam transformation, mainly used in ‌ machine vision system, image the target on the photosensitive surface of ‌ image sensor. ‌ The quality of industrial lenses directly affects the overall performance of machine vision system, so reasonable selection and installation of lenses is an important part of machine vision system design.

Features of industrial lenses
The main function of the industrial lens is to achieve beam transformation (modulation) to ensure that the target image is clearly imaged on the image sensor. Its performance and quality have an important impact on the overall performance of the machine vision system.

Quality evaluation criteria for industrial lenses
When evaluating the quality of industrial lenses, it is usually judged from the following parameters:

‌‌ resolution ‌ : the ability of the lens to clearly resolve the details of the subject, expressed in "line pairs per millimeter" (lp/mm).
‌‌ acuity ‌, also known as contrast, refers to the contrast between the brightest and darkest parts of an image.
‌‌ depth of field ‌ : the distance at which the lens can maintain a clear image.
Application scenario of industrial lens
Industrial lenses are widely used in a variety of scenarios requiring high-precision image acquisition, such as:

‌ Intelligent traffic ‌ : used for high-definition electronic police system, traffic monitoring and so on.
‌ Industrial testing ‌ : such as semiconductor testing, printed board testing, food and beverage testing.
‌ machine vision ‌ : used for automatic production line quality control and product inspection.

Industrial lens, this optical lens designed for industrial applications, with its high resolution, high contrast and excellent optical performance, plays an irreplaceable role in many fields such as machine vision, automated inspection, medical imaging and so on. Below, I will introduce it in detail from the definition, working principle, classification, performance parameters and application fields of industrial lenses.

1. Definition and working principle
Industrial lenses, as the name suggests, are optical lenses specifically designed for use in industrial environments. Its working principle is based on the principle of optical imaging, mainly through the lens of light refraction, focusing and imaging, the light emitted by the object is focused to the imaging plane, forming a clear image. This imaging plane is typically made up of light-sensitive materials, such as CCD (charge-coupled device) or CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor) chips, which convert light into electrical signals that can then be transmitted to subsequent processing equipment for image analysis, measurement, or control.
2. Classification
According to different classification standards, industrial lenses can be divided into a variety of types:
Classification by imaging method:
Perspective lens: The most common type of industrial lens, the imaging principle is similar to the human eye, suitable for applications requiring high definition.
Reflection lens: Imaging using the principle of reflection, suitable for shooting transparent or translucent objects, with less distortion and higher contrast.
Refracting lens: Imaging using the refraction principle of light, suitable for shooting objects with specular reflection, usually with higher resolution and less distortion.
Classification by focal length:
Prime lens: The focal length is fixed, cannot be adjusted, but has high optical performance and small distortion, suitable for applications requiring high definition and high precision.
Zoom lens: The focal length can be adjusted within a certain range, with greater flexibility, suitable for shooting objects at different distances or adjusting the shooting Angle of the scene.
By interface type:
C interface lens: the universal industrial lens interface standard, suitable for most industrial cameras, small size, light weight, easy to install and debug.
CS interface lens: Shorter than C interface lens, suitable for applications requiring a smaller volume, usually used for miniature cameras or special needs scenes.
Other interface types Lenses: such as F interface, V interface, etc., usually used for special application scenarios or specific camera models.
By application field:
Machine vision lens: the most widely used class of industrial lens, with high resolution, high contrast, low distortion and other characteristics, suitable for object recognition, positioning, measurement and other machine vision applications.
Security monitoring lens: has a large field of view Angle and high clarity, suitable for surveillance cameras, access control systems and other security fields.
Medical image lens: Used for medical diagnosis and treatment, with high resolution, high contrast, low distortion and other characteristics to meet the requirements of medical images.
Scientific instrument lenses: with special optical properties and design to meet the needs of scientific experiments and research, such as microscope lenses, spectrometer lenses, etc.
3. Performance parameters
To evaluate the merits of an industrial lens, it is usually necessary to consider the following key performance parameters:
Resolution: represents the ability of the lens to record details of the object, measured in terms of the number of black and white pairs that can be resolved per millimeter (" line pairs /mm ", lp/mm). High-resolution lenses provide sharper, more detailed images.
Sharpness (contrast) : The contrast between the brightest and darkest parts of an image. High-sharpness lenses provide sharper, higher-contrast images.
Depth of field: In the scene space, the scene located within a certain distance before and after the focusing object plane can also form a relatively clear image. The size of the depth of field is related to the focal length of the lens, the size of the aperture and the shooting distance.
Aperture: Controls the amount of light entering the lens, affecting the depth and sharpness of the image. The size of the aperture is usually expressed by the F-number, the smaller the F-number, the larger the aperture and the more light.
Distortion: The phenomenon that the straight line outside the spindle in the subject plane becomes a curve after being imaged by the optical system. Distortion affects the geometry of the image, but does not affect the sharpness of the image. Quality industrial lenses minimize distortion.
4. Application field
Industrial lenses have a wide range of applications, including but not limited to:
Automated inspection: Used for quality control and inspection tasks on automated production lines, such as product surface defect detection, size measurement, color detection, etc.
Machine vision: to achieve object identification, positioning, measurement and other functions, widely used in automation equipment and robot systems.
Manufacturing quality control: monitoring and controlling quality problems in the manufacturing process, such as welding quality inspection, product assembly correctness judgment, etc.
Medical imaging: Used in medical imaging system, such as X-ray, CT, MRI and other equipment image acquisition and processing.
Security monitoring: Security monitoring and monitoring systems for factories, warehouses, public places, etc.
To sum up, industrial lens, as an indispensable component in industrial applications, play a key role in many fields with their high resolution, high contrast and excellent optical performance. With the continuous progress of technology and the continuous expansion of applications, the performance of industrial lenses will be further improved, and the application field will be more extensive.