Machine vision using image processing of traditional intensity images is in wide spread use. In many situations environmental conditions or object colours or shades cannot be controlled, leading to difficulties in correctly processing the images and requiring complicated processing algorithms. Many of these complications can be avoided by using range image data, instead of intensity data. This is because range image data represents the physical properties of object location and shape, practically independently of object colour or shading. The advantages of range image processing are presented, along with three example applications that show how robust machine vision results can be obtained with relatively simple range image processing in real-time applications.