Solving ‘Impossible’ Inspection Tasks with NIR and SWIR Imaging

When conventional machine vision fails due to haze, smoke, glare, dark materials, coatings, or visually opaque packaging, infrared imaging can restore usable contrast by exploiting material absorption and transmission, rather than relying on surface color. This session explains what you can realistically “gain” as you move from the near infrared into short-wave infrared, using a practical ~700–2000 nm view of the spectrum.

Attendees will learn real industrial challenges: enhancing contrast in high-speed inspection, discriminating materials that look identical in visible light, inspecting through certain polymers and coatings, and enabling transmission-style views for electronics and other inspection tasks where longer wavelengths provide different penetration behavior.

About the presenter
Frantisek "Frank" Jakubec is the head of the global semiconductor & electronics market segment at Balluff and a seasoned specialist in automation and machine vision technologies. With more than 15 years of experience in B2B solutions and product sales, Jakubec blends deep technical expertise with a strong instinct for business development, helping customers adopt high-value vision and automation solutions. His background combines both engineering and commercial strategy.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in electronics and communication technologies and a master’s degree in business and commercial engineering in industry from the Czech Technical University. This combination enables him to bridge complex technical challenges with real manufacturing needs, shaping practical strategies that drive performance and innovation.