Machine Vision Lighting Inc.

Machine Vision Lighting Inc. (MVL) is a Tokyo-based illumination technology company founded in 2014 and headquartered in Kokubunji, Tokyo, Japan, led by CEO and President Shigeki Masumura. The company develops specialized lighting systems for machine-vision applications, where consistent illumination is critical to reliable automated inspection. Its core innovation is the VISA-Method (Variable Irradiation Solid Angle) lighting system, which irradiates an object evenly across its entire surface regardless of the distance from or angle to the light source, making subtle surface variations far easier to detect than with conventional light sources. The patented system, protected in Japan with patents pending in major overseas markets, can also project multiple layers of RGB light at different angles of incidence so that slight differences in depth register as different colors, enabling one-step 3-D imaging of surface irregularities such as dents and depressions.

This approach is simpler than conventional laser scanning and performs well on reflective, glossy metal surfaces that challenge laser methods. In November 2016, MVL became both the first Japanese company and the first lighting company to win the VISION Award at the European Machine Vision Association's VISION exhibition in Stuttgart, Germany. The company's CEO coined the now-common industry phrase 'machine vision lighting' and has authored three books on the subject. MVL targets automated industrial parts inspection across electronics, semiconductors, machine parts, food, medical and pharmaceutical sectors, and works with equipment manufacturers and system integrators as development and distribution partners, including international distribution through Edmund Optics.