Recently, I had a very pleasant experience regarding an inquiry about a business meeting. It was about a software we developed in the past that quantifies a certain type of video. The inquiry was, "We would like to request some improvements for the next fiscal year's budget, so could you provide us with a quote for budget application?" It's naturally gratifying to receive a quote request when doing business, but this time, the background made me particularly happy, so I decided to share it. When we developed the software in the past, the requesting department was the "Research Institute," and it involved developing software to quantify a certain video. After the initial delivery, we assisted with improvements to the quantification method a couple of times, and it seemed they continued their research using the software because "they were able to obtain the desired values." This time, the person who made the request was from the business division and was actually specialized in manufacturing, although the people from the Research Institute were also included in the correspondence. Our image processing department worked seriously on the development, but I learned from this inquiry that the values obtained have significant importance for commercialization, and I was very pleased to know that products reflecting those values are already available in the market. *News is distributed via our company newsletter.

We will be exhibiting at the "International Image Device Exhibition 2021," which will be held at Pacifico Yokohama from December 1 to 3, 2021. The summer "Image Sensing Exhibition" and the winter "International Image Device Exhibition" are important opportunities for us as a company engaged in image processing development to hear the voices of those struggling with various applications of image processing. By understanding the needs of our clients, we can prepare solutions to the challenges that need to be addressed. For example, as superior sensors are developed and cameras equipped with them are released, the output I/F standards (currently the fastest being CoaXPress) will also become faster. Consequently, the subsequent "image processing" will be required to perform at higher speeds. "Edge computing" and "smart cameras," which handle processing at the front end, face issues related to heat and power supply. Heavy computations are expected to be realized in the later stages. Where processing should take place? There is no definitive answer. It depends on the specific application. The role of image processing changes depending on its use. What kind of exhibits will we see this year? As an exhibitor, I am also excited about the displays from other companies. *News is distributed through our company newsletter.

In the company's "Communication Time (weekly regular meeting)," a popular activity is the ranking guessing quiz. Recently, the topic was "2020 Semiconductor Manufacturer Ranking (TOP 10)," so I will provide the names of the manufacturers that KIT is related to in a work context (used as a user) from the TOP 10. Ranked first, and also the clear number one as a user, is Intel. This is a strong contender with no surprises, as we rely heavily on them not only for computer CPUs but also for FPGAs. NVIDIA is on the rise in the rankings, and its usage rate is increasing within our company. The rise in the rankings is said to be driven by AI, but it originally excelled in image processing chips, and we are utilizing it as a GPU board with improved performance. However, to fully leverage its capabilities, we still need to understand the underlying mechanisms, which is a chance for us as a development company to showcase our skills. Considering the semiconductor components we purchase and implement, FPGA was the clear number one, so it seems the person who proposed this theme hit the mark. *News is distributed through our company newsletter.

It seems like the title might be misleading, but we have had to shift from the long-standing "meetings in conference rooms" to web meetings since last year, establishing "how to proceed with web meetings" from discussions about their merits and demerits. One thing that doesn't pose much of a problem on the web is "report meetings." However, "specification meetings" are particularly challenging when it comes to deciding specifications with customers, as the priorities for the customer and the workload (which is synonymous with difficulty) for the implementing side often do not have a proportional relationship. Therefore, these meetings are aimed at aligning those differences. Since the advent of the web era, it has become a challenge that those who are not visible on the screen may not smoothly receive our statements, and the information senders are unaware of this. As a countermeasure, we have tried preparing meeting materials with many branches and details before the meeting. However, having too many branches can blur the important points and lead to discussions about the branches, leaving the main issue ambiguous. The title "brain exercise" reflects the significant difficulties we face in preparing the pre-meeting materials and conducting the meeting on the day itself. *News is distributed through our company's newsletter.

To our regular newsletter subscribers, thank you for your patience. The biannual "Image Processing Learning Set" giveaway campaign will soon begin accepting applications. The campaign period will be one month, from September 9 to October 10, using the Ipros website. During the campaign period, we will offer a free download of the "Introduction to Image Processing (Full Page Version)" and will randomly select 10 individuals who download it to receive the image processing learning software "IP Kit 3" for free. This software is also available for purchase (approximately 10,000 yen). At the "Image Processing Seminar" hosted by the Japan Tech Center, we conduct practical exercises using this "Introduction to Image Processing" and "IP Kit 3" to develop algorithms for defect detection. In lectures, we can confirm "What don't you understand?" face-to-face, but while considering how much we can convey through materials, we have added some new content for this first time. Please check the Ipros website for the start of the campaign. *News is distributed through our company newsletter.

This time, we will discuss the acceleration of newcomer training at our company. The first part of the common training curriculum for them is to deeply memorize "the fundamentals of image processing." Once this phase is completed, the next theme will be to program a 9×9 smoothing filter as an example. This program should be completed in one day. Next, they will measure the execution speed of the "processing part" of the software they created. Within the company, there are two types of processing programs created for this training. The difference between the two types is that one is versatile, while the other prioritizes speed. Now, we move on to the evaluation phase. They will self-assess whether their software is slower than both references above, or somewhere in between. This will prompt them to think about what the differences are. First, they will consider this without looking at the source code, and if they have any insights, they will discuss those insights and predict how much they could speed it up before being allowed to "try it out" in an experiment. The basics involve techniques for skipping addresses, while the intermediate level focuses on reducing the number of calculations. The learning continues daily. *News is distributed through our company newsletter.

It seems that the era of expressing the scale of FPGAs in terms of ASIC gate equivalents is over. A unit is defined as one logic cell, which consists of a logic circuit (actually a LUT) and a flip-flop (FF), and the number of these blocks is one indicator of scale. Even so, since we are talking about millions of cells, it is rare for the desired circuit not to fit, excluding component costs. Circuits that traditionally consumed logic cells, such as multipliers, have dedicated DSP blocks available. The embedded memory, which is a strength of FPGAs, is also in the Mb class. Thus, SoC FPGAs, which incorporate CPUs (currently both top manufacturers use ARM) alongside logic circuits on the same silicon, are being developed. From the perspective of a development engineer, while CPUs offer many advantages, it is important to remember that they reduce the number of I/O pins. Other hardware accelerators that have been announced recently seem to circle back to ASSPs (Application-Specific Standard Products) when examined closely, but I am very interested and look forward to the day when I can get my hands on actual devices. *News is distributed through our company's newsletter.

Our company belongs to the "Techno Horizon Group," which consists of various companies from different industries. In the field of "imaging," we have previously gathered optical systems for light entry, camera manufacturers that capture light and convert it into data, capture boards that take in camera outputs, and our company's image processing manufacturers that process the captured data. Recently, a sibling company that also specializes in image processing has joined us. What surprised me is that even without a face-to-face meeting, we can have conversations through email that are just like our usual internal discussions. Although each company's core image processing technology serves similar purposes, we discovered that the industries utilizing that technology differ. I am excited to see how this will expand. *News is distributed through our company's newsletter.

We have launched our company's first "Image Connection Library." For the past 26 years, we have developed products that are "custom-tuned for specific applications," so we are acutely aware of the challenges of creating something "general-purpose." Specifically, documents such as "Operation Manuals" and "API Specifications" are the same as those for specific applications, so there were no issues there. However, we have come to realize through inquiries that parts of the "Operation Manual," such as "moving the camera," have become "obvious prerequisites" in our internal multiple checks. At this point, there are no issues with the software's functionality itself, but to address the "lack of explanation," we have added documents such as "Configuration Guidelines," updated the installer, and revised the documentation to provide more extensive resources. While it is ideal for users to be able to use the product without reading the instructions, the processing we offer is quite specialized, so we intend to continue gaining experience in this area. *News is distributed via our company newsletter.

In our development, it is not uncommon to adopt LSI that is not sold to the general public, but there are unexpected challenges. This is because there are no application notes, and we do not know which registers to set in what order to obtain the desired data. This situation arises because, when a specific user is expected to make a large purchase, the LSI provider offers close support, which can lead to the device being released before the application notes. Similarly, in the development of "reference boards" for special LSI from semiconductor manufacturers, we encounter the same issues. In this case, we can obtain the desired information by asking customers during development, so we are not greatly troubled. However, during evaluation experiments, if there are unexpected behaviors of the device (from a semiconductor design perspective), we may not receive immediate answers even if we ask questions. Both those who use and those who create "reference boards" feel that the evaluation boards from current FPGA manufacturers have become quite excellent. Although our products are no longer available for sale, I have fond memories of the time when we sold evaluation boards for FPGAs and PCI bridge chips. *News is distributed through our company newsletter.

I would like to write about the technology of "light," which is next to image processing. Although it is outside my area of expertise, I feel that there has been an increase in requests for image processing development related to the wavelength of light, so I would like to introduce it. The "color" changes with the difference in the wavelength of light. The most well-known colors are the "R, G, B" colors, but this time I am not talking about visible light colors. This is about utilizing the differences in transmission and reflection rates due to wavelength. Specifically, this involves infrared and ultraviolet light. As the names suggest, these are types of light that go beyond the range of "visible light" that humans can see. Infrared is on the outside of red, and ultraviolet is on the opposite side of violet. Since the transmission rate changes with different wavelengths, objects that appear to have the same brightness in visible light can show differences when using an infrared light source and a camera with high infrared sensitivity (and a visible light cut filter if necessary). These differences may not be visible to the human eye. These wavelengths have low S/N ratios, so we might ask for "noise reduction" or to combine or subtract infrared images and visible light images (though it's not that simple) for the purpose of detecting objects. Combining, subtracting, and detecting are the main tasks of an image processing company. *News is distributed through our company's newsletter.

The lottery for the image processing software has concluded, and we would like to announce the results. (Past winners are excluded from this lottery as well.) Due to a large number of eligible applicants, we have increased the number of winners by 5, resulting in a total of 15 winners. This software is available for license purchase through our direct sales or on the Vector website. It is only sold as a CD-ROM through direct sales. If you are interested, you can try the software for free as a "trial version," so please download it and give it a try. (The trial version has some functional limitations.) (The announcement of winners will list the company names and initials of the last names in no particular order.) Mr. H from Company I, Mr. M from Company S, Mr. O from Company D, Mr. S from Company T, Mr. O from Company B, Mr. U from Company E, Mr. M from Company D, Mr. O from Company K, Mr. N from Company H, Mr. N from Company R, Mr. H from Company M, Mr. M from Company S, Mr. N from Company K, Mr. S from Company T, Mr. K from Company T. In total, we will send the software to the 15 winners at the company names and sections registered with Iprosu. Please understand that we cannot provide support for purchases made through Vector, as we cannot obtain purchaser information. The next campaign is planned for this fall. *News is distributed through our company newsletter.

The "Image Processing Learning Set Giveaway Campaign," held twice a year, has successfully concluded. Due to insufficient guidance regarding the separation of "download" and application (the inquiry button is the application button for the giveaway), the number of people who downloaded the image processing textbook was 206, while the number of inquiries (applications) was 21. The "Image Processing Seminar" hosted by the Japan Techno Center, using this textbook and the lottery prize "IP Kit 3" (scheduled for March 25, 2021), has also been postponed due to the two-week extension of the state of emergency (new date to be determined). Unfortunately, the activities aimed at "broadening the base of image processing" have come to a halt. Considering these two circumstances, we will include those who downloaded the textbook in the lottery as a second exception this time. The names of the winning companies and their initials will be announced via our newsletter and will be shipped accordingly. The next campaign is planned for autumn (September to October). For those who cannot wait until the next campaign, we apologize for the inconvenience, but we ask you to make a purchase. It is available for sale on our direct sales site and on the Vector site as well. *News is distributed through our company newsletter.

The "Image Processing Learning Set Giveaway Campaign," held twice a year, has successfully concluded. Due to insufficient guidance regarding the separation of "download" and application (the inquiry button is the application button for the giveaway), the number of textbook downloaders was 206, while the number of inquiries (applications) was 21. The "Image Processing Seminar" hosted by the Japan Tech Center, using this textbook and the lottery prize "IP Kit 3" (scheduled for March 25, 2021), has also been postponed due to the two-week extension of the state of emergency (new date undecided). Unfortunately, the activities aimed at "broadening the base of image processing" have come to a halt. Considering these two circumstances, we will include those who downloaded the textbook as part of the lottery participants as a second exception this time. The names of the winning companies and their initials will be announced via our newsletter and will be shipped accordingly. The next campaign is planned for autumn (September to October). For those who cannot wait until the next campaign and need it, we kindly ask you to make a purchase. It is available for sale on our direct sales site and also on the Vector site. *News is distributed through our company newsletter.

Recently, our company participated in the Techno Horizon Fair. We are scheduled to exhibit at the "Image Sensing Exhibition" in June. I often see people at trade shows saying, "There was nothing new compared to last year." I think it's a waste to come all this way without any gains. We believe in "solving through the effort of discovery" and are consciously demonstrating with the mindset of "first reveal at this exhibition." This time, the QR code reading (pre-processing) falls into that category. We showcased new features such as being able to read codes that are "placed at a steeper angle" and "responding to greater brightness variations," which could not be read in previous exhibitions. We highlighted codes that could be read with the previous version by enclosing them in a red frame, and codes that became readable with the new additional features were enclosed in a blue frame. The color of the frame changes when the angle of the code or the lighting is altered. The flickering of the color marks the boundary of the new features. While this frame is unnecessary when actually used in the field, I believe it is also an important part of an engineer's job to highlight "the differences from the last time" at trade shows. *News is distributed through our company's newsletter.

It is not uncommon to be asked about the job description of "developing image processing algorithms," specifically, "What skills are needed, and how is the work carried out?" Additionally, people often ask, "Is knowledge of mathematics important?" I explain that the ability to have "insights" is the most important. However, for a company to function effectively, it cannot rely solely on everyone being an "insight person." This is because those who are insight-oriented often have "weaknesses in execution." Since it is a company, it is an "organization." Similar to sports, each person has their own position, and by combining abilities according to those positions (and assigning positions based on abilities), we create a strong team. I believe I have introduced this from different perspectives several times, but our company does not know how to teach the ability to "have insights." Since this is work and not a hobby, while it is necessary to develop strengths, there is no need to overcome weaknesses. A group of people with various strengths comes together to realize "image processing development."

_/_/_/_/　I　N　D　E　X　_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ ・Engineer Column………………… Human Task Switching ・KIT Information Dissemination…………… Good Stories and Bad Stories ・Editorial…………………………… A Monologue from Nimaimori Is there a high probability that useful information is mixed in? We publish a "Miscellaneous Information Newsletter for Engineers." The information that engineers casually mention may be helpful when you think, "Huh?" We hope that related information, success stories, failure stories, and occasionally grumbling about hardships will be useful references. If you would like to receive the newsletter, please kindly request it through the contact form on our company website. Back issues are also available.