Machine vision is a multi-disciplinary subject, utilizing techniques drawn from optics, electronics, mechanical engineering, computer science and artificial intelligence. This book provides an introduction to the fundamental principles of machine vision for students. Emphasis is laid on providing the reader with a solid grounding in the basic tools for image acquisition, processing and analysis. The text addresses the application areas of automated visual inspection of robot vision; introduces robot programming together with an explanation of the mechanisms by which robot vision modules interact with the programming language; recognizes that machine vision is presently undergoing a maturing process, with sophisticated techniques drawn from current research being increasingly exploited in industrial systems; features a chapter on the research-oriented topics of 3-D image understanding and early visual processing (steropsis and visual motion).