Visions: A Machine Vision and Automation Solutions Podcast

Host Jim Tatum interviews Xin Xie, Orbbec Chief Engineer and Director of CM/JDM & Solutions, about a new robot-free, wearable vision platform that captures synchronized RGB, depth, and motion data directly from human operators to train AI models. The episode explains Orbbec’s approaches to intrinsic/extrinsic calibration, microsecond-level sensor synchronization, multi-view strategies to reduce hand occlusion, and AI-enha...

In this episode Jim Tatum interviews Chris Shelton about Penn State Behrend's VAR lab project to create a research-grade digital twin of the Liberty Bell using structured light, laser metrology, LIDAR, photogrammetry and edge computing. The team captured hundreds of gigabytes of data under tight time constraints to preserve and share high-precision 3D models for research, visualization, and education.

The conversation covers equipm...

In this episode of Visions, Sharon Spielman chats with Cindy Ye, CEO of Exaktera, about how the company reduces complexity for engineers by combining multiple specialist brands, deep technical expertise, and hands‑on support.

Exaktera explains its outcome‑focused approach—providing configurable platforms, rapid prototyping, on‑site commissioning, and long‑term troubleshooting—to help OEMs and integrators deliver reliabl...

Host Jim Tatum interviews Christopher Van Dyke, CEO and co-founder of Overview AI, about the company’s mission to bring automotive-grade AI perception into factory inspection. Overview AI offers an easy-to-deploy smart camera that detects variable defects, trains in hours, and logs real-time results on the edge.

The conversation covers why they leaned into AI early, challenges around sparse defect data and synthetic augmentat...

This episode explores SiLC Technologies' Ionic Vista, an ultra-long-range 4D LiDAR vision system built on silicon photonics that provides wide-area coverage beyond a kilometer with per-pixel distance, velocity, and polarization measurements.

Host Jim Tatum speaks with Arlon Martin about the system's features, including dynamic region-of-interest scaling, object detection and identification capabilities, integration with radar and c...

Sharon Spielman interviews Johannes Zurin of Allied Vision about the future of machine vision, covering the rise of embedded AI and smart cameras, new sensor technologies like SWIR, and growth areas such as semiconductors and defense.

The episode also discusses shifting supply chains, pricing pressure, faster development cycles, changing B2B buying behaviors, and the importance of partnerships and industry standards in accelerating...

Here is the second installment of a two-part podcast on Vision Language Models. In this episode, host Jim Tatum speaks with Dijam Panigrahi, co-founder and COO of GridRaster, about VLMs and their expanding role in machine vision and robotics.

The conversation covers real-world deployments in manufacturing and depot environments, how VLMs integrate with quality standards and digital twins to create living systems with traceability a...

In this episode Jim Tatum interviews Dijam Panigrahi of GridRaster about Vision-Language Models (VLMs), a next-generation AI that blends visual data and natural language to enable reasoning, interpretation, and real-time decision-making in industrial settings.

VLMs are shown to improve robotics and inspection by giving machines context-aware vision, active task guidance, and expert knowledge to augment human workers and automate co...

In this episode, A3 Executive VP Alex Shikany joins Vision Systems Design's head of content Sharon Spielman to preview Automate 2026 in Chicago (June 22–25). They discuss the new Humanoid Robot Forum, the convergence of vision, AI, and robotics, and how standards, interoperability, and practical demos will shape real-world deployments.

The conversation highlights key sessions and free expo events—certified vision tracks...

In this episode of Visions, Sharon Spielman interviews Thomas Hopner of MVTEC about cyber resilience for machine vision systems, covering secure communication and firmware, manual patching constraints due to certifications, and the impact of the EU Cyber Resilience Act.

They discuss practical steps—risk assessments, managing open-source dependencies, developer education, containerized CI/CD pipelines, and the challenges of lo...

In this episode of Visions, Sharon Spielman, VSD's head of content, interviews Thomas Hopfner of MVTec, who discusses cyber resilience for machine vision systems, explaining how resilience differs from traditional cybersecurity and why recovery and ongoing patching matter.

Hopfner covers practical guidance on secure communication, firmware integrity, software bills of materials (S‑BOMs), and compliance with the EU Cyber Resilience ...

This episode explores Cognex's recent survey on AI-driven machine vision, featuring an interview of Cognex CEO Matt Moschner by Sharon Spielman, VSD's head of content. The discussion covers years of AI tool development, common adoption hurdles, usability and scalability improvements, and industry-specific adoption trends in automotive, electronics, logistics, FMCG, and semiconductors.

Listeners will learn how modern AI vision advan...

In this episode of Visions: A Machine Vision and Automation Solutions Podcast, part two of three, Visions host Jim Tatum speaks with Milind Karnik, CEO of Elementary, about how AI-driven vision is transforming legacy inspection systems on the factory floor. The conversation covers misconceptions of cloud-based manufacturing and practical approaches, including Elementary's VisionLink, which enables manufacturers to augment existing ...