Avia Software Spots Small Defects in Large Images

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The Value Engineering Alliance announces the availability of Avia, inspection software specifically developed to provide reliable detection of subtle defects even when they reside in extremely large (~10 gigapixels) images. Avia detects defects by comparing images of items or scenes of interest to their respective stored reference images. Avia optimizes its accuracy and repeatability by relaxing assumptions about image registration and employing proprietary image processing techniques. In doing so, it can perform the corrections necessary to accommodate variations that can occur across images of materials that experience unpredictable nonlinear distortions during manufacturing. All differences that Avia identifies as exceeding user-specified size and contrast thresholds are located, marked, ranked and tabulated.

To date, Avia has not been used to replace human inspectors. It has, instead, been used to enhance the speed and accuracy of laborious inspection and proofreading processes by inspecting some products up to 200 times more quickly than humans and freeing them from the type of tedious, repetitive review work that routinely results in errors. The operators of Avia-based systems remain the ultimate arbiters, because they review the Internet-compatible (HTML) defect/error reports that are generated, annotate them as required, initiate the appropriate corrective actions when necessary, and prepare final reports submitted for record keeping.

Currently only available in forms suitable for implementation on WinTel-compatible platforms, Avia's most common use is as the defect detection engine of label inspection and automated proofreading systems in the pharmaceutical and medical industries where the accuracy and quality of printed information are of utmost importance. The positive results of feasibility analysis testing done on security codebooks, surveillance photos, paper currency, stamps, casino playing cards, etched microcircuits, flexible circuits, semiconductor die and brain slices suggests that these items could also be effectively inspected by Avia-based systems. Inquiries are welcome from OEMs and system integrators interested in establishing strategic alliances to pursue such opportunities.

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