The machine vision industry has produced a number of vision systems tools for the electronics and semi-conductor industries in recent years. As such, the vision systems applications for these industries are numerous and well-proven. However, as the computing power available in PCs and smart cameras increases, what was once a specialist branch is becoming more mainstream with the attendant cost reductions.

The electronics industry can benefit from machine vision in a similar way to both the pharmaceutical and print industries. High speed production lines and microscopic details can be verified by vision systems on-line. On a macroscopic level, a vision system can check batch numbers on chips, read datamatrix codes (2D barcodes), ensure that all components are correctly positioned and no foreign bodies are present. Other applications include printed circuit board verification, flaw detection (such as scratches and foreign body detection) and LCD screen fault detection.