AUTOMOTIVE
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Machine vision technology is improving quality control in automotive manufacturing, writes Andrew Williams
I
n an effort to improve operational efficiency and minimise or eradicate defects, a growing number of manufacturers in the automotive
sector are introducing machine vision technology in quality control processes for components, modules, sub-assemblies and finished vehicles. So, what are the main current and potential applications of machine vision technology in automotive manufacturing quality control applications? What are likely to be the key innovations and trends in this area over the next few years? What role might vision technology play in the automotive factory of the future?
Visual Inspection Ever since the birth of the automotive industry, manufacturers have worked tirelessly to improve productivity. However, as vehicles and components become ever more complex, companies across the sector have come to realise
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the significant limitations of relying on human vision for quality control – particularly in vision-related factory tasks like inspection, which require high speeds, constant operation and a lot of monotony. In an effort to face up to and overcome these limitations, a growing variety of machine vision technology has been developed to take over responsibility for visual inspection and control, as a key part of demanding industrial
Machine vision is also finding more and more applications in areas typically associated with a high cost of failure
applications that require high-speed or high- magnification, oſten within 24-hour operational schedules or in manufacturing environments where repeatable measurements are required. According to Marc Benevento, managing
director at Industrial Market Insight, machine vision is also finding more and more applications in areas typically associated with a high cost of
failure – particularly in relation to the ‘small, complex assemblies’ in engines and transmissions that are typically difficult to inspect with the naked eye, but where the cost of failure might commonly run into ‘thousands of dollars.’ ‘Machine vision systems allow for 100 per
cent inspection with reliability and cycle time improvements over human inspectors,’ he says. Machine vision systems are also used widely
to inspect adhesive beads and position parts on to vehicles in operations like bonding of the fixed front and rear glass. As Benevento explains, this means that the entire operation can be conducted without human installers. As structural adhesives are being used more frequently to impart significant performance attributes to the body in white, he also points out that more automakers are ‘considering the use of vision systems to ensure the proper placement of adhesives in critical to quality applications’.
Maintaining flexibility One company that is actively involved in the application of machine vision technology to quality control tasks in the automotive manufacturing sector is Canadian electronic imaging company Teledyne Dalsa, which has
October/November 2018 • Imaging and Machine Vision Europe 45
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