I am one of the instructors in the Certified Vision Professional Program from A3 Vision (https://www.automate.org/a3-content/certified-vision-professional). My first suggestion would be to look into taking some classes in that program. Machine Vision environments like Keyence, and LabVIEW Vision Builder AI, are cute, fast and so simplistic that they can be quite frustrating. Halcon, Vision Pro, Cognex are all good vision environments, but my experience is limited with those environments. The Matrox MIL library is well respected in the C programming community, however they have been acquired by Zebra Technologies Corporation, and it's hard to say what their future is.
LabVIEW vision has been my primary tool for years, and plays well with PLC, and across a variety of industrial bus topologies. Frequently I will write the vision portion, and subcontract out the interface to a factory network. This reduces my liability and puts that portion in the hands of more skilled individuals (pay the experts).
I cannot recommend NI Vision tools, as it looks like NI is letting that portion of their programming environment slide, and the new subscription service is downright scary. since you could loos access to your source code if you choose not to pay the subscription fee. That said, if you have a permanent LabVIEW professional license with the vision development module, it may do the job. It is not a feature rich as Halcon, but the runtime license is considerably less if you are deploying multiple inspection stations.
Open CV / MV shows potential but it largely geared toward deep learning models, but the price is right. Keyence is about as expensive as it gets.
The options are endless and somewhat overwhelming.
If you can be in Shanghai in March, look into http://www.visionchinashow.net/txw_sh/ Just walking the show floor and talking to vendors will be very informative.
Until this Covid thing settles down, the China vision show is not in my future. The next show in the US is October in Boston, MA (Self serving plug, I will be teaching one of the classes at that event).
I will occasionally embed with a customer who wants to develop machine vision applications in their manufacturing environment. We work side by side from the concept to a finished inspection. Over the course of that effort the customer is involved in all aspects of the project, from concept to completion. In they end the customer has first hand knowledge and experience in the process. Look for a supplier that would be willing to work with you along those lines. Kind of a mini apprentice program.
In any event, good luck. It sounds like you are embarking on an adventure.
Cheers
Robert
