FOOD & BEVERAGE
How 3D ToF machine vision solves a food production challenge
Our client, a major food industry player, needed accurate, quantified insight into powder distribution on transport trays before they entered a vacuum chamber. Akatech deployed the TiToF (Tiled Time-of-Flight) system: six ToF cameras in a mosaic above the tray (130 × 70 cm), connected to an industrial PC, running 24/7 — with an acquisition window window of 24 s, real-time export to the analytics platform (~ 900 valeurs/cycle), and an architecture designed to scale seamlessly.
3D Industrial Vision System Architecture
The TiToF system places six ToF cameras at the exit of the cold room, inside the conveyor, in two rows of three above the tray. Aimed with slight convergence, they cover the full 1,300 × 700 mm surface. The architecture supports transparent scaling.
The onboard software orchestrates cover actuation, acquisition, six-field stitching, and CSV export to the client analytics platform (~ 900 values).
Scope
- Overall tray fill rate (%)
- Average powder thickness per zone (mm)
- Thickness variation zone by zone
- Min / Max values per zone (mm)
- 2D colour heatmap
- Acquisition timestamp
Key Performance Metrics
- Machine cycle: 24 s per tray
- ~ 900 values sent to analytics platform
- Continuous 24/7 operation
Project Outcome
Full 3D ToF Coverage & Industrial Robustness
The six-camera ToF mosaic covers the full 1,300 × 700 mm tray without blind spots, even with powder granulometry ranging from 0.5 to 2.8 mm. Motorised lens covers protect the optics from powder projections, ensuring reliability in continuous production.
~900 Real-Time Quality Values to the Analytics Platform
The automatic CSV export delivers approximately 900 values per cycle to the client’s analytics platform. Trays falling below threshold are displayed in real time in the control room and archived on a local server. The DMAIC indicator enables teams to drive data-led continuous improvement.
Conclusion
Performance of the Industrial ToF Vision Inspection System
Thus, the TiToF system proves that high-precision measurement and industrial robustness can coexist in a -30 °C environment. It acquires data every 24 seconds across 150 distinct zones of 20 × 3 cm each. Powder granulometry from 0.5 to 2.8 mm is fully resolved by the selected ToF sensors.
Furthermore, the 1.7-second acquisition window demands precise synchronisation between the PLC, and the processing pipeline. The architecture scales transparently to a second production line — no software or network rework required.
