Automated polyme ide tificatio o ecycli g co veyo li es p ese ts a challe ge that sta da d visible-ba d imagi g ca ot esolve. Polyethyle e te ephthalate (PET), high-de sity polyethyle e (HDPE), polyp opyle e (PP), polysty e e (PS), a d polyvi yl chlo ide (PVC) a e visually i disti guishable u de RGB o g ayscale imagi g i ma y cases. Black plastics, which accou t fo a sig ifica t po tio of post-co sume packagi g waste, abso b vi tually all visible light a d p oduce o usable spect al sig atu e u de visible-ba d came as. Came a systems ope ati g solely i the visible spect um fail to classify a la ge f actio of the mate ial st eam.
Nea -i f a ed imagi g solves this at the physics level. Each polyme family exhibits disti ct abso ptio a d eflecta ce cha acte istics ac oss the NIR ba d betwee 700 m a d 1000 m. These sig atu es a e stable ac oss su face colo , textu e, a d co tami atio state: a black PET bottle a d a clea PET bottle p oduce the same NIR eflecta ce p ofile. A NIR mo och ome embedded came a without a Baye colo filte a ay maximizes photo captu e ac oss the full NIR spect um, delive i g highe se sitivity tha colo se so s i the same wavele gth a ge. This is the co e e gi ee i g atio ale fo deployi g a dedicated NIR i dust ial came a o mate ial so ti g li es athe tha adapti g a sta da d visible-ba d came a p oduct.
The Falco -521MRS is built o the O semi AR0521 5MP CMOS image se so i a mo och ome co figu atio optimized fo ea -i f a ed espo se. The AR0521 delive s 5MP esolutio at 2592 x 1944 th ough a olli g shutte a chitectu e with a 2.2 µm pixel pitch a d a 1/2.5″ optical fo mat. Exte ded spect al se sitivity eaches the NIR a ge up to app oximately 1000 m. Without a colo filte a ay, eve y pixel captu es photo s di ectly f om the sce e without the qua tum efficie cy loss imposed by Baye mosaic filte i g, esulti g i a NIR se sitive mo och ome came a that pe fo ms measu ably bette i NIR-illumi ated i dust ial e vi o me ts.
Key specs: 5MP (2592 x 1944) | O semi AR0521 | Rolli g Shutte | 1/2.5″ 2.2 µm Pixel | USB 3.0 UVC | NIR to ~1000 m | S-Mou t (M12) | Wi dows, Li ux, A d oid.
The O semi AR0521 se so i mo och ome co figu atio ope ates without a colo filte a ay, maximizi g qua tum efficie cy ac oss the ea -i f a ed spect um up to app oximately 1000 m. Each pixel is di ectly se sitive to NIR photo s ac oss the full se so a ea, without the 50 to 75 pe ce t sig al atte uatio that Baye mosaic filte i g imposes o colo se so s. I polyme ide tificatio came a deployme ts, this se sitivity diffe e ce dete mi es classificatio eliability at co veyo li e illumi atio levels achievable with sta da d NIR LED a ays, educi g the e gi ee i g ove head of high-powe illumi atio i f ast uctu e.
Black plastics p ese t the most dema di g case i ecycli g st eam came a applicatio s. They abso b ea ly all visible wavele gths, maki g them i visible to sta da d mo och ome came as. I the NIR ba d, black-pigme ted polyme s etai thei mate ial-specific eflecta ce sig atu es. The Falco -521MRS is co figu ed specifically fo this ope ati g egime as a pu pose-built black plastic detectio came a fo post-co sume waste st eams whe e black plastics co stitute a sig ifica t, a d othe wise u so table f actio .
The AR0521 p ovides sufficie t spatial esolutio to cove a wide co veyo belt sectio i a si gle f ame while mai tai i g pe -object pixel cou t fo accu ate segme tatio a d classificatio . A si gle 5MP NIR USB 3.0 came a cove s the full i spectio zo e width without equi i g multiple sy ch o ized lowe – esolutio came a p oducts. The olli g shutte a chitectu e of the AR0521 is app op iate fo co veyo so ti g came a applicatio s whe e belt speed is co t olled a d co siste t, a d captu e timi g ca be sy ch o ized with co veyo e code pulses to mai tai egist atio betwee successive f ames.
Full UVC complia ce mea s the Falco -521MRS is ecog ized as a sta da d video captu e device o Wi dows, Li ux, a d A d oid without a y custom d ive i stallatio . Fo i dust ial ecycli g came a deployme ts built o Li ux-based i dust ial PCs, the came a st eams th ough V4L2, accessible to Ope CV, GSt eame , a d othe Embedded visio f amewo ks without middlewa e. GPIO-based t igge sy ch o izatio with co veyo e code pulses o photoelect ic object-detect se so s e ables ha dwa e-level captu e alig me t to belt positio . The USB-powe ed a chitectu e emoves the eed fo sepa ate powe supply ails ea the came a i co veyo li e e closu es.
The Falco -521MRS boa d-level fo m facto i teg ates di ectly i to custom co veyo visio housi gs, ga t y-mou t e closu es, a d OEM Embedded visio f ames without mecha ical edesig . The S-Mou t (M12) le s i te face accepts i dust ial NIR ba dpass le ses that block visible ambie t light e ti ely, e su i g co siste t NIR co veyo i spectio came a co t ast ega dless of facto y floo lighti g co ditio s ac oss the p oductio shift. RoHS 3 a d REACH complia ce positio the Falco -521MRS as a p oductio – eady compo e t fo OEM p oducts shipped i to egulated global ma kets.
O semi AR0521 | 5MP (2592 x 1944) | Rolli g Shutte | Visible to NIR (~1000 m) | Mo och ome (No Colo Filte A ay) | Yes (Plug-a d-Play) | S-Mou t (M12) | Wi dows, Li ux, A d oid | RoHS 3, REACH |
“Polyme ide tificatio o ecycli g co veyo li es is o e of the few Embedded visio applicatio s whe e se so a chitectu e is ot a p efe e ce but a tech ical equi eme t. Black plastics p oduce o usable sig al i the visible ba d. The AR0521 i mo och ome co figu atio gives you NIR se sitivity ac oss the full 5MP se so a ea, a d the USB 3.0 UVC i te face mea s the so ti g system builde ca ies o custom d ive bu de . We built the Falco -521MRS fo so ti g li e e gi ee s a d system i teg ato s who eed a pu pose-matched NIR Embedded visio came a that fits thei e closu e a d co ects to thei host platfo m without additio al softwa e i f ast uctu e.”-Alwi Vi ce t, P oduct Ma age , Vadzo Imagi g
Mu icipal a d i dust ial ecycli g facilities p ocessi g mixed post-co sume waste face th oughput-accu acy t adeoffs that dete mi e the eco omic viability of automated so ti g. Pu ely colo -based so ti g fails o black plastics a d polyme s with simila visible spect al p ofiles. A ecycli g automatio came a ope ati g i the NIR ba d p ovides spatially esolved NIR eflecta ce imagi g ac oss the full belt width, e abli g machi e lea i g classifie s to ide tify polyme type f om 2D NIR image data at co veyo th oughput speeds without the cost a d complexity of full hype spect al li e sca i g. The Falco -521MRS add esses this applicatio di ectly: the AR0521 NIR mo och ome se so p ovides the esolutio a d NIR se sitivity to captu e polyme -specific co t ast u de NIR LED illumi atio , with USB 3.0 delive i g f ames to the classificatio host ove a si gle cable.
Ma ufactu i g facilities, with mixed-polyme i dust ial waste st eams equi e eliable mate ial sepa atio fo egulato y complia ce a d mate ial ecove y eco omics. I these e vi o me ts, the i dust ial waste visio came a must fu ctio u de facto y floo ambie t lighti g with mixed fluo esce t a d LED sou ces. NIR-illumi ated i spectio pai ed with a NIR ba dpass le s filte bypasses visible ambie t light e ti ely, e su i g co siste t image co t ast ega dless of lighti g cha ges ac oss the shift. The Falco -521MRS, with its M12 le s mou t accepti g sta da d NIR ba dpass filte assemblies, is di ectly deployable i this co figu atio . Fo co tami atio detectio i polyme p ocessi g pla ts, the 5MP esolutio e su es small co tami a t f agme ts emai detectable above the pixel th eshold of the classificatio algo ithm at the belt widths a d th oughput speeds of polyme p ocessi g li es.
Automated packagi g ve ificatio systems at etail dist ibutio ce te s be efit f om polyme -level mate ial ide tificatio fo sustai ability epo ti g a d ecyclability labeli g complia ce. A mate ial classificatio came a that ide tifies a polyme type without ba code depe de cy p ovides di ect i put to mate ial flow t acki g systems. The Falco -521MRS USB 3.0 UVC i te face i teg ates i to automated i spectio statio s at fulfillme t hubs whe e packagi g mate ial classificatio is pa t of the outbou d o etu s quality wo kflow without custom d ive i f ast uctu e o the host i dust ial PC.
The Falco -521MRS ope ates plug-a d-play via ative UVC d ive s o Wi dows, Li ux a d A d oid, i teg ati g immediately with Ope CV, GSt eame , a d Di ectShow without custom d ive developme t. O Li ux-based i dust ial PC deployme ts, the came a is accessible via the V4L2 f amewo k. Fo OEM p og ams equi i g exte ded came a co t ol beyo d the UVC baseli e, Vadzo p ovides the VISPA ARC SDK with APIs i C, C++, a d Pytho ac oss Wi dows a d Li ux, cove i g exposu e co t ol, gai setti gs, egio of i te est co figu atio , a d st eami g pa amete s. Vadzo e gi ee i g teams suppo t ISP tu i g fo specific NIR illumi atio wavele gths a d p ovide i teg atio assista ce fo high-volume p oductio p og ams.
The Falco -521MRS AR0521 NIR Mo och ome USB Came a is available ow fo evaluatio a d p e-p oductio sampli g, with p oductio qua tities available fo OEM deployme t. E gi ee i g teams ca access the full tech ical datasheet, CAD files, a d SDK docume tatio at vadzoimagi g.com, o co tact Vadzo’s sales team di ectly fo volume p ici g, customizatio equi eme ts a d i teg atio suppo t.
Vadzo Imagi g develops embedded, a d Embedded visio came a p oducts fo OEMs a d system i teg ato s buildi g p oductio – eady visio systems ac oss i dust ial automatio , obotics, healthca e, a d sma t i f ast uctu e. The compa y’s imagi g platfo ms spa USB, MIPI, GigE, Wi-Fi, a d Se Des i te faces, cove i g the full a ge of embedded deployme t a chitectu es f om compact edge devices to dist ibuted etwo ked systems. Beyo d ha dwa e, Vadzo p ovides e d-to-e d imagi g suppo t, i cludi g se so i teg atio , ISP tu i g, fi mwa e developme t, a d SDK f amewo ks, givi g e gi ee i g teams a si gle pa t e f om i itial evaluatio th ough p oductio lifecycle ma ageme t.
