Machine Vision for Quality Inspection in Automobile Manufacturing Industry
The quality control process plays a huge role in the automotive industry, whether it is cars, trucks, or two-wheelers. From being an afterthought a decade ago to a vital aspect in every step, from prototyping to manufacturing. Quality control has now gained a lot of importance from automotive manufacturers.
Machine Vision in the Automotive Industry products enable the automation of the visual inspection largely used in automobile manufacturing lines leading to lower manual errors and higher productivity. By eliminating the fatigue component that exists in the manual inspection, Machine Vision thus leads to near-zero errors.
Quality inspection in the automotive can be categorized into two auto parts:
Critical parts:
These are the vital components that impact the functionality, durability, and longevity of the automobile, thereby enhancing the overall consumer experience.
Non-critical parts:
The exterior components include body shape, colour, shine, and upholstery, among others, which significantly influence the consumer’s purchase decision.
Machine Vision excels in inspecting both critical and non-critical parts.
Key applications of Machine Vision in quality inspection include:
Tire uniformity:
Tires play a big role in the durability of the automobile. Machine Vision with specialized cameras, software and lenses, can perform inspection of the bulge shape of the sidewalls, the difference in the sidewall height, and tread seams. All of these can happen inside an enclosed unit mounted with a 2D/3D laser profiler such as Keyence LJ-X8400.
Moulding Drums Width and Position:
Keyence LJ-X8400 enables the detection of the width and position of rubber sheets, such as inner liners, carcass plies, and sidewalls, on the moulding drum, and provides essential feedback for quality and process control.
Gear inspection:
The gear components are crucial for vehicle performance. Dimensional parameters such as missing teeth, irregularities on the teeth, and surface defects such as stains, dimensional deviations, and scratches result in acoustic noise and performance issues. The robust machine vision equipment can effectively inspect and record these issues.
Wheel alignment and balancing:
Every OEM recommends an optimal wheel alignment for vehicle models to ensure high performance and durability. Using a large aperture lens with high-speed sampling enables non-contact measurement of the while mounting and alignment.
OCR Reading of the part markings:
Cameras equipped with Optical Character Recognition (OCR) capabilities are used to read OCR markings on the tires, chassis, engine and other components to ensure traceability using parent-child linking of the parts. This plays a massive role in tracking defective components and identifying their source.”
Brake pad inspection:
Non-contact cameras are used to inspect rivet alignment on brake pads, dimensional accuracy, read the data and batch code, and verify proper grounding for the brake pad. These inspection processes are extremely difficult and expensive if done manually.
Body Surface testing for scratches, dents:
To ensure a flawless and polished appearance of the vehicle post assembly, the body surface of the automobile is inspected for minor scratches, paint inconsistencies, and dents. Machine Vision cameras and sensors can effectively capture these defects and ensure a perfect product.
Besides the above, Machine Vision Cameras and Sensors can automate the inspection processes of various components and detect a wide range of defects. The automobile manufacturing industry stands to gain significantly from these advancements.
Machine vision solutions for the automobile manufacturing industry offering a wide range of applications that improve quality, efficiency and precision in vehicle manufacturing.
Quinta, as a leading system integrator in the field of machine vision in the Automobile Industry, can help your organization select the right cameras and sensors, design the optimal mounting solutions, and integrate these systems with your backend operations to create an effective and comprehensive dashboard.
