Factory Floor AI Solutions for Visual Inspection
PTZOptics, Detect-It, and Comtronix Join Forces to Make Industrial AI Easier to Deploy at Automate 2026
Published June 7, 2026
At Automate 2026 Booth #3921, visitors will see a robotic demonstration featuring a FANUC cobot with a mounted PTZOptics pan/tilt/zoom camera, showing attendees how cameras, robotics, industrial AI, and in-factory computers can solve highly challenging inspections in production environments.
PTZOptics, Detect-It, and Comtronix will showcase a practical path to industrial AI inspection solutions at Automate 2026 (June 22-25 Chicago, booth #3920). The live demonstrations will show how manufacturers, including automotive, heavy equipment, and food and beverage producers, can move beyond slow, complex and expensive AI pilots and deploy real-time visual inspection, automation, and on-premise intelligence quickly and cost-effectively directly on the factory floor. The collaboration brings together PTZOptics broadcast-quality camera systems, Detect-It visual AI software, and Comtronix industrial computing hardware to help teams improve production reliability, reduce inspection bottlenecks, and scale AI-enabled quality workflows without unnecessary cost or complexity.
A central theme of the joint demonstrations will be the case for on-premise AI deployment — a requirement, not a preference for most manufacturing environments. Unlike cloud-dependent AI solutions, this joint system runs entirely behind a customer’s firewall: video feeds stay inside the plant, operational data is never transmitted externally, and the system remains fully functional even without internet connectivity. This on-prem, coder-free, always-on architecture means manufacturers get the security, reliability, and speed their environments demand, while gaining a practical path to expand from a focused single-inspection use case to broader plant-floor automation.
The demonstrations will be structured across three levels of increasing complexity:
- The first will show a single-camera inspection workflow using a single PTZOptics camera, Detect-It Net Runner AI software, and a compact Comtronix industrial PC — with visitors able to interact directly with a live presence/absence or good-part/bad-part detection net, moving components in and out of frame to watch the system live and respond to changes in real time.
- The second demonstration application will demonstrate a multi-camera setup mounted on a table-sized gantry, with multiple PTZOptics cameras moving between positions to simultaneously check presence/absence, bolt tightness, clip closures, and component orientation on a single part. This mid-level demo will also feature Detect-It Net Runner AI Software and a midlevel Comtronix industrial PC.
- The third application will preview the partners’ first-ever robotic demonstration featuring a FANUC cobot (collaborative robot) arm with a mounted PTZOptics pan/tilt/zoom camera, showing attendees how cameras, robotics, industrial AI, and in-factory computers can solve highly challenging inspections in production environments.
“Manufacturers are under pressure to improve quality, reduce defects, and bring AI into production, but many teams still see AI as expensive, complicated, and difficult to maintain,” said Matt Davis, CTO, PTZOptics. “This collaboration shows a more practical path. With PTZOptics’ high-quality robotic cameras, visual AI software from Detect-It, and industrial computers from Comtronix working together, manufacturers can easily start with a simple inspection use case and rapidly scale toward more advanced, factory-wide automation.”
Detect-It’s AI software enables teams to train visual detections from video clips, creating very robust models and helping manufacturers inspect parts, verify assembly steps, identify defects, and trigger workflow actions quickly and efficiently. In the joint demonstrations, Detect-It will show how visual AI can support use cases such as component verification, barcode-driven inspection, weld validation, guided worker instructions, surface inspection, and quality checks that can happen in real time on the plant floor.
“We’re working together to take AI out of the lab and put it in the hands of the engineers and plant and quality managers who understand the importance of optimizing production and simplifying operations,” said Rick DiLoreto, COO/CMO, Detect-It. “Visitors to our booth will see how manufacturers can teach a system what to look for, run it on-prem, and start solving quality problems quickly. PTZOptics cameras give us the image quality, optical zoom, and robotic control we need to inspect multiple areas from the required angle and distance, while Comtronix gives customers the industrial computing power to run these workflows where they need them, inside the plant.”
Comtronix will provide the industrial computing layer for the demonstrations, including AI and machine learning PCs and servers designed for demanding industrial environments. The booth will show how computers can scale from smaller installations with fewer cameras to higher-performance systems that support multiple cameras, GPUs, and robotic workflows.
“Manufacturing AI needs more than a model, it needs hardware that can survive and scale in factory floor conditions,” said Jimmy Haugen, Vice President, Comtronix. “Our industrial computing systems are built for these environments, with the processing power and expandability customers need as they move from their first inspection station to larger and more complex AI deployments. Working with PTZOptics and Detect-It lets us show how Comtronix PCs become part of a complete solution, not just one piece of the puzzle.”
The collaboration reflects PTZOptics’ broader Visual Reasoning initiative, which focuses on turning video into actionable data by combining camera robotics, AI, and open integration. For manufacturing, that means moving beyond passive image capture toward systems that can inspect, verify, count, alert, and trigger actions based on what cameras see via live video streams.
