Lingchen PLC empowers visual guidance button removal machine

01 Project Background

On the button production line, the traditional button pulling process relies entirely on manual labor. Long term repetitive work can easily lead to hand strain on operators, and labor efficiency is limited by factors such as physical strength and proficiency, making it difficult to match the needs of large-scale production. This has become a core pain point that restricts the improvement of production efficiency and the optimization of the work environment.

To completely solve this problem, Lingchen Technology uses industrial PLC as the core controller, integrates visual guidance system, and launches a fully automatic button removal machine solution to achieve precise recognition, positioning, and grasping of buttons, greatly improving production continuity and yield.

02  Customer needs and challenges

Customer core requirements

·Production efficiency: The required cycle time is 1 second per piece

·Identification stability: Accurately identify buttons of different materials and shapes, adapt to scenarios such as reflection, shadows, and complex textures

·Positioning accuracy: visually guided output of button spatial coordinates to avoid layer jumps and positioning deviations

·Automation continuity: seamless connection of operation and control processes, reducing manual error correction

Customer's existing solution pain points

·The customer's original button machine solution had the following key issues:

·Inaccurate visual recognition: The visual system's feature capture of buttons is inaccurate, making it difficult to stably recognize buttons of different materials and shapes

·The problem of "jumping layers": frequent occurrence of layer jumping, resulting in missing buttons, directly affecting production continuity

·Poor environmental adaptability: When facing button reflections, shadows, or complex textures, it is easy to misjudge features, ultimately leading to inaccurate recognition and layer jumps

·High scrap rate: Missing and misjudging increase the scrap rate and manual error correction costs

03 Lingchen PLC Solution

hardware configuration

This plan adopts Lingchen Technology's complete set of automation products:

Main controller: Lingchen bus PLC, responsible for motion control, logic processing, and visual communication

Visual system: high-resolution camera+light source, combined with adaptive exposure algorithm

Execution mechanism: detection distance axis, button gripper axis, rotation axis, lifting axis (responsible for cage up and down)

Human machine interface: Lingchen HMI, realizing parameter settings, status monitoring, and alarm prompts

Core technology implementation

① Advanced template matching algorithm, stable recognition of various buttons

Lingchen Technology integrates advanced template matching algorithms to quickly capture core features such as button contours and textures. Regardless of the material (plastic, metal, wood) or shape (circular, square, irregular) of the button, it can stably complete recognition and rotation angle calculation. Combined with visual positioning technology, it can accurately output the spatial coordinates of the button, avoiding layer jumping and positioning deviation from the root.

② Adaptive exposure algorithm, suitable for complex lighting environments

Incorporating adaptive exposure algorithm, this algorithm can perceive changes in environmental lighting and dynamically adjust exposure parameters. Accurate correction is carried out for scenarios such as button reflection, insufficient or excessive exposure, ensuring clear and distinguishable image details, greatly improving recognition robustness under complex working conditions.

③ PLC high-speed motion control, seamless connection of operation and control processes

Lingchen Bus PLC is responsible for receiving visual coordinates, controlling the coordinated action of detection distance axis, button gripper axis, rotation axis, and lifting axis. After calibration and process optimization, a fully automatic cycle of visual recognition → coordinate calculation → axis motion → grabbing and removing the frame has been achieved, with a single piece cycle controlled within 1 second and no redundant pauses in the process.

④ Visual calibration and debugging

Provide clear calibration process diagrams and program display interfaces to facilitate on-site engineers to quickly align the camera and robotic arm coordinates, reducing debugging difficulty.

Performance indicators achieved

After on-site testing and verification, this solution meets customer requirements in all performance indicators:

·Production efficiency: The cycle time reaches 1 second per piece

·Recognition stability: adaptive exposure+template matching, effectively dealing with reflections, shadows, and complex textures

·Positioning accuracy: visually guided output coordinates, completely solving the problem of "jumping layers"

·Continuous operation: seamless connection of operation and control processes, no omissions, and no manual error correction

04 Highlights and Value of the Plan

Highlights of Technological Innovation

Visual+PLC deep fusion: The visual system communicates directly with the PLC, and coordinate data is transmitted in real-time to reduce intermediate latency.
Adaptive exposure algorithm: dynamically adjust exposure parameters to ensure clear images under different lighting conditions and solve problems such as reflection and overexposure.
Template matching has high robustness: regardless of button material, shape, or texture, it can stably recognize and calculate rotation angles.
1 second/piece efficient cycle: Optimize the operation control process and visual processing time to achieve high-speed continuous production.
Value created for customers

Completely replacing manual labor: automated removal, eliminating the risk of hand strain and reducing labor costs
Improve the yield rate: precise identification and positioning, avoiding layer jumping and missing, significantly reducing the scrap rate
Improve production efficiency: 1 second/piece continuous operation, matching the needs of large-scale production
Reduce debugging difficulty: Visual calibration and HMI interaction, shorten on-site debugging cycle
High cost-effectiveness: Lingchen's solution has a short cycle, obvious price advantage, and efficient service response

05 summary

The button extraction process in button production has long relied on manual labor, which is inefficient, labor-intensive, and prone to errors. Lingchen Technology uses bus PLC as its core and integrates advanced visual guidance system. Through key technologies such as template matching algorithm, adaptive exposure algorithm, and high-speed motion control, it has successfully achieved automatic recognition, precise positioning, and fast grasping of buttons.

This solution completely solves the pain points of traditional solutions such as inaccurate recognition, jumping layers, and missed captures, stabilizing the cycle time at 1 second per piece, greatly improving production continuity and yield, and creating significant economic benefits for customers. In the future, Lingchen Technology will continue to deeply cultivate the field of industrial automation, empowering various industries with intelligent upgrades through more innovative solutions.

About Us

Established in 2006, Suzhou Lingchen Data Acquisition & Computer Co., Ltd. operates under a business philosophy centered on creating value for clients and fostering win-win partnerships. The company provides customers with core components and system solutions for a wide range of automation equipment, including industrial computers, motion control systems, test and measurement instruments, machine vision systems, and robotics. Currently, Lingchen oversees two wholly-owned subsidiaries: Suzhou Xun'ya Automation Technology Co., Ltd. and T.O.K. Robotics (Suzhou) Co., Ltd., which specialize in the sales of robotic systems and the R&D, manufacturing, and sales of linear motion products, respectively.

Product System Network

Within the hierarchical structure of automated control networks, Lingchen Technology offers a comprehensive range of products spanning the device, control, and information layers.

01  Industrial Computers

Lingchen Industrial Chassis provides comprehensive physical protection for critical computing cores through its industrial-grade robust structure, exceptional thermal management, and dust-proof design, ensuring enduring and stable operation even in harsh industrial environments characterized by vibration, dust, and extreme temperatures.

02 Embedded Industrial PC

Lingchen Embedded Industrial PCs feature a compact and rugged industrial design, integrating high-performance computing, extensive I/O interfaces, and broad tolerance for wide temperature and voltage ranges. Specifically engineered for embedded applications—such as machine vision, edge computing, and automation equipment—these systems provide a stable and reliable intelligent core within limited spaces, empowering smart manufacturing and IoT applications.

03 Motion Control Card

The Lingchen motion control card is capable of controlling up to 32 motion axes and simultaneously supports the control of up to 512 DI points and 512 DO points, with a maximum bus communication cycle of 250 µs. In terms of motion control, it supports functions such as single-axis relative motion, absolute motion, jogging, and drive-based homing; multi-axis interpolation; multi-axis point table motion; and electronic gearing.

04 LMC Series Motion Controllers

The Lingchen LMC series motion controllers are designed around an open, hard real-time kernel (with jitter < ±0.3 µs). This design thoroughly resolves the non-real-time limitations inherent in traditional Windows-based platforms, ensuring both determinism and instantaneous response for multi-axis commands. Installation is remarkably simple, requiring only a single Ethernet cable for connection; furthermore, utilizing highly efficient asynchronous communication technology, the system enables the synchronized issuance and control of motion commands for up to 12 axes within just 1 millisecond.

05 NAC Series High-Performance Motion Controllers

At the core of the Lingchen NAC controller lies a powerful bus expansion capability, supporting four EtherCAT masters to enable the precise control of 256 axes per station—totaling 4,096 I/O channels. Its motion control capabilities are both comprehensive and robust: beyond standard point-to-point, linear, and circular interpolation, it features advanced functions such as 5-axis interpolation, spline-based trajectory smoothing, and dynamic coordinate systems. Furthermore, it integrates vibration suppression, "soft landing" capabilities, and high-precision position comparison outputs; combined with eight independent interpolation groups and continuous interpolation functionality, it effectively meets the demands of complex trajectories and high-speed synchronization. The development environment is open and flexible, supporting multiple programming languages—including C++, C#, and Python—and allows for direct programming within the real-time operating system, thereby significantly enhancing integration and debugging efficiency.

06 PLC Motion Controller

Lingchen PLC controllers strictly adhere to PLCopen specifications and the IEC 61131-3 international standard, combining high performance, a compact footprint, and a modular design to facilitate easy development and flexible deployment. Widely applicable to automation equipment and production line systems across sectors such as 3C electronics, lithium-ion batteries, packaging, and printing, these controllers can also be extended to serve as network communication nodes within integrated production lines for logistics, automotive, and consumer goods industries. By meeting requirements for internal/external network isolation, high-speed bus communication, and real-time data processing, they provide a stable and reliable control core for a diverse range of industrial environments.

07 Industrial Network Cards

Lingchen industrial network cards are specifically engineered for harsh industrial environments, featuring 10/100/1000Mbps auto-negotiation capabilities to deliver stable and reliable high-speed network connectivity. Characterized by robust anti-interference, surge protection, and wide-temperature operation, these cards are widely deployed in critical applications such as motion control, machine vision, and automation systems. The products feature a flexible installation design—including a standard full-height bracket and an optional half-height bracket—enabling seamless integration into a wide range of smart manufacturing equipment and industrial networks.

08 IO Module

Lingchen Technology offers a comprehensive range of I/O module solutions, designed to meet the diverse requirements of industrial automation flexibly.

LC/LD Series Expandable I/O Modules: Supporting multiple protocols—including EtherCAT, Profinet, Ethernet/IP, and Modbus TCP—these modules allow for the flexible expansion of data acquisition capabilities covering digital signals, analog signals, temperature, pressure, and pulses. They are widely applied across sectors such as 3C electronics, lithium-ion batteries, semiconductors, automotive manufacturing, and medical equipment.

MINI Series I/O Modules: Characterized by their compact size and high real-time performance, this series encompasses digital I/O, analog I/O, temperature modules, and communication modules. They are ideally suited for control and data acquisition scenarios where space constraints and real-time responsiveness are critical requirements.

GWS Series Cabinet-Free I/O Modules: Featuring exceptional stability and convenient network cabling capabilities, these modules are designed for distributed system layouts, enabling significant reductions in both system integration time and costs.

Our entire product portfolio is dedicated to providing users with reliable, easy-to-integrate, and adaptable I/O module support for a wide variety of application scenarios.