Hi,
I can definitely help you with this, I've specialized in machine vision for 20 years and I've worked on real world projects like this before. I am painfully aware of the requirements and potential pitfalls of a project like this. It's difficult to begin with and a system like this can work for 6 months and then suddenly go wrong if not properly designed.
I've worked with many vision systems including Cognex, some of the best in the world, be very wary of the marketing hype.
Machine vision appears depectively simple because our eyes and brains are so good at it.
Please contact me so we can discuss this further.
Thanks,
Mike