Triple Bandpass Filters are tools that allow us to go above and beyond traditional Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) indicators to reinvent the way we monitor crop health and collect more information than ever before.

Traditionally, NDVI was used to determine plant health, which incorporates a camera with a red and near-infrared (NIR) filter—and the equation NDVI = (NIR – Red)/(NIR + Red). While this is a great tool, scientific advances have found that modifying this calculation can provide even more details about crop and field health. Similarly to red light, healthy plants also absorb visible blue light. And in addition to NIR light, healthy plants also reflect some visible green light. These facts enable us to assess crop health quickly, inexpensively and in realtime using converted consumer cameras and unmanned aerial vehicles.

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Midwest Optical Systems (MidOpt) has more than 30 years of experience in industrial optics and is a worldwide leader in manufacturing filters specially designed for machine vision applications. MidOpt sets the industry standard for filter performance, and their recent addition is no exception to their tradition of excellence and innovation. MidOpt unveils an industry first, introducing cutting-edge robotic technology into their assembly system to ensure quality and repeatability by limiting the possibility of human error in the manufacturing and inspection processes. MidOpt filters offer many distinct advantages, including StablEDGE® technology, improved contrast, optical flatness control and an automation process that ensures filters that are free of imperfections.

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Optical filters have long been critical components in traditional machine vision applications. They maximize contrast, improve color and subject recognition, or otherwise control light reflected from an object under inspection. Typically, filters are used for machine vision tasks that do not vary much from product to product or from one subject to the next. However, recent advances in sensors, artificial intelligence, human-robot interaction and other technologies have led to the use of machine vision in more flexible applications such as sorting, material handling and automated assembly. When choosing a filter for these applications, consider the following.

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Midwest Optical Systems has introduced new acrylic longpass filters. Acrylic Longpass Filters are frequently used as enclosure windows, to shield lenses and lighting from damage, or to economically control the wavelength emission in large area, broad spectrum light sources.  Because of their durability, they are also commonly used in Food & Drug Administration (FDA) and European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) regulated applications where exposed glass over the inspection area is not permitted. AC370 and AC380 offer anti-abrasion, anti-reflection coatings which can also withstand harsh solvents such as acetone and MEK.

MidOpt President, Barry Warzak is interviewed by new industry publication: MVPro Media – The article features StablEDGE® filters and VISION 2016 highlights.

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Some applications that have traditionally relied on single wavelength filters and multiple sensors or multispectral imagers are, with the use of dual band filters employed together with other recent technical advances, now becoming far more affordable. With the resulting reduction in cost barriers, some of these technologies are far more accessible and the potential to benefit a far larger number of individuals and organizations is now greater than ever. Applications include Security/surveillance imaging, 3D point cloud imaging, gaming, automotive, NDVI imaging and numerous other applications.

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Over the past 150 years or more, fossils and other objects from the past have been collected and archived all over the world by museums, colleges and universities, and many private individuals. Usually considerable work has been put into restoring these objects in an attempt to make them appear whole and more aesthetically pleasing.  Michael Eklund of the University of Texas and ThinklabZ has coined the term “Progressive Photonics” to describe a series of reproducible steps and techniques that are designed to enhance long term data yield from paleontological and archeological specimens. Progressive Photonics involves the use of specific types of cameras, lighting, optical filtering, staging, shrouding and other tools and equipment for obtaining and recording these images. It relies on fixed, predetermined methods, settings and sequences. It is a recording process designed to be easy to follow, relatively inexpensive, and one that allows for later manipulation of the images/data as may be deemed beneficial by individual researchers, scientists or collectors. Of paramount importance is that the images as seen by the unaided eye and recorded by the camera are known, specific and repeatable by anyone, at anytime, anywhere in the world. For this reason, the use of Photoshopping or other similar manipulation of digital images during the recording process is eschewed. Progressive Photonics is therefore not only an attempt to improve the scientific yield from specimens by adopting standard methodologies, instrumentation and practices for imaging, it ultimately also attempts to restore confidence in the integrity of the resulting data and conclusions drawn from interpretation of those images.
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MidOpt’s BP850 near-IR bandpass optical filter aids in surgical navigation application. During typical sinus and skull base procedures, surgery is performed under low light conditions. Hence it was important to create a system that is unobtrusive to the surgeon. To illuminate the scene, the NaviENT (system developed by ClaroNav) uses an array of 2×96 Near-IR LEDs of 5mm diameter, emitting at 850nm with a 60° field of view. These are mounted inside a tracking box with the Point Grey Bumblebee XB3 camera. Near-IR light projected onto the scene is then captured by the cameras and filtered with MidOpt’s 850nm near-IR band-pass filters (BP850) prior to processing. Since the BP850 ensures out of band blocking, the optical filter removes unwanted ambient light from the scene.

StablEDGE® optical filters are specifically designed to be less susceptible to effects from angular shifting seen when optical filters are used with short focal length (less than 12mm) camera lenses. This feature is becoming increasingly important as today’s trend in machine vision progresses towards more compact inspection layouts, which utilize less space – forcing the camera and lens closer to the subject. As a result, short focal length lenses are now more extensively used than ever before.