Can I Use a Color Vision System Without Fixturing Parts On a Conveyor Belt

In my recent webinar, Color or monochrome vision systems? Which are right for your job? a participant asked a question about color inspection tools and part fixturing that I thought I would share on the blog. The participant asked:

I think I have a simple color application where I need to verify a color indicator on my part. But the part is liable to be anywhere on the conveyor belt when it passes in front of the camera. Our conveyor belt is wide and the parts move quite a bit on the line. Can I just use color tools to find my part and verify the color or does my part need to be more fixtured on my belt? The indicator changes color depending on what is run that day.

And the (short) answer is: if there is movement on the part, you could just use a pattern tool to find the part and a color tool to verify the color. This may be all you need. If you are using the same line for different color indicators, you should use a color vision system. A filter may work just as well, but you might need to change filters each day depending on the colors of the parts.

It's kind of hard to give a definitive answer to a question like this without knowing more about the specific inspection application so it's always good to speak with a Cognex sales engineer to find out what you need.