THIS PAPER DESCRIBES A MACHINE VISION SYSTEM FOR AUTOMATIC RECOGNITION OF BOBBINS THAT PLAYS A KEY ROLE IN AN AUTOMATED HANDLING SYSTEM OF THE PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING ENAMEL WIRES. THE FUNCTION OF THIS SYSTEM IS TO ACQUIRE IMAGES OF BOBBINS PLACED ON PALLETS IN A FREE-FLOW CONVEYOR LINE USING CCD CAMERAS AND TO ANALYZE THEM TO EXTRACT VARIOUS INFORMATION SUCH AS BOBBIN TYPES, COLORS, AND NUMERIC MANUFACTURING CODES.