Control Expo 2024 Preview #2
With what has traditionally been one of the most important event in the exhibition calendar for Quality Control and Metrology equipment and services suppliers fast approaching, we publish the second in a series of preview articles highlighting a few of the many new and innovative solutions that will be showcased at the Control Exhibition 23rd – 26th April in Stuttgart, Germany.
Numerous Fraunhofer institutes research and develop in the field of image processing and optical or acoustic testing for quality assurance. At the Control 2024 exhibit, which is coordinated by the Fraunhofer Vision Business Unit, current new developments from various fields will be on display.
AI-based AR-Software For Assembly Line Support and Quality Control
Industrial assembly lines vary considerably. Some operate with frequent changes of product setup, while others are characterized by complex processes and the need for intense coordination between frontline workers and backroom experts. Fraunhofer IGD has combined augmented reality (AR) and artificial intelligence (AI) to help users meet the challenges of modern production. At the Control 2024 the Fraunhofer IGD presents the MARQUIS demonstrator, an innovative AR-based assembly workstation, revolutionizing industrial assembly processes. MARQUIS integrates Computer Vision, Artificial Intelligence, and Augmented Reality to provide real-time support and verification. The system enhances efficiency by automatically recognizing parts, verifying steps, and providing instant feedback to workers, ensuring precision and quality. This intuitive tool reduces training needs and preempts errors, directly overlaying critical information in the camera view for a seamless assembly experience. This way, manufacturers can reduce error rates and eliminate cost-intensive downtimes.
Quality Assurance of Transparent Objects
At Control, the ‘Purity’ system will be presented, a solution for 100 percent high-speed testing of transparent objects in transit at a material flow speed of up to 3 meters per second. The test is based on clear and standardized characteristics and is carried out with a large depth of field. Defects such as tension or inclusions in the material are reliably detected. It addresses glass producers, film manufacturers, manufacturers of optical components and plastics producers.
With lightfield-based light sources, objects with complex geometries are illuminated by a specially adapted light recipe in such a way that relevant structures can be detected with maximum contrast. The optimal light field for this task is determined by an algorithm that intelligently adapts the lighting modalities to the individual object geometry. This approach shows the way for a future generation of inspection systems, as here image evaluation and lighting are optimized together for the most efficient inspection system possible.
High-Speed Microscope For 100% Optical Quality Control
For 100 percent optical quality control, the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology IPT has developed a high-speed microscope (HSM) to examine microscopic structures over large areas in a short time. It is important to combine high recording speeds and small resolvable structure sizes. Comparable automated microscopes scan the samples using the ‘stop and go’ process, in which they stop for each position, adjust the focus, take an image and then move on. This process takes a lot of time. In contrast, the HSM records the samples while moving and thus achieves a significant speed advantage because frequent acceleration and deceleration is not required.
Major challenges that must be overcome for implementation are the shallow depth of field of microscopy and motion blur. In order to always enable sharp images despite the shallow depth of field, an optimized autofocus process was implemented, which always aligns the lens at the correct distance from the sample. Motion blur is prevented by a very short, bright flash illumination.
Fluorescence Laser Scanner For Checking Surfaces in Production
Component surfaces determine the quality and functionality of products. High quality requirements for coatings and surface cleanliness therefore require particularly efficient testing methods. The imaging fluorescence laser scanners (F-scanners) developed at the Fraunhofer Institute for Physical Measurement Techniques IPM check surfaces directly in production or in the laboratory.
The testing system scans the surface very quickly with UV light. At these wavelengths, organic substances such as B. fats, oils, adhesives and release agents have strong fluorescence activity, meaning they convert some of the UV light into visible light. The fluorescence of these substances can be measured with high contrast and clearly using spectral filtering and an extremely sensitive detection unit. This means that just a few milligrams per square meter of an organic substance can be detected, regardless of whether it is contamination or a desired occupancy.
In contrast to point measurement methods, which only take random samples of a surface, the F-scanner enables 100 percent spatially resolved inspection of large areas. To do this, a UV laser is projected onto the component with up to 400 lines per second. From the up to 50 million data points per second, a high-resolution overall image is created that shows the distribution of organic substances on the surface. Thanks to the collimated laser beam, the system has a high depth of field. In addition to monitoring strip goods, problem areas in complex components are also reliably identified.
Inline 3D Production Metrology and Assembly Inspection
In the manufacturing of individualized products with a high number of variants, more flexible and adaptive optical measuring and inspection systems are increasingly needed for inline quality inspection. At the Fraunhofer Institute for Factory Operation and Automation IFF such customized and flexible 3D measuring systems for dimensional and form inspection as well as for assembly and completeness inspection are being developed. In addition, individual function modules are offered as software libraries, such as geometric evaluation of 3D scan data, simulation of optical sensors to generate synthetic nominal data or calibration and calibration of optical sensors.
Digital models of production facilities and products are becoming increasingly important in the manufacture of variant-rich products in small batch sizes. Manufacturing measurement systems benefit from this, which has many advantages. One example: To set up these measurement systems, it is often necessary to create a good or master part or a parameter set defined by the inspection planner. With a high number of variants, this is resource-intensive and therefore costly.
If production facilities and products are digitized, the information is available as structured CAD models. Thanks to their machine-readable form, this design-derived data can be used for a variety of purposes. Technical sub-processes for inspection planning and inspection execution can be simulated. This means that quality inspection can be planned offline in parallel with ongoing production.
Hall 8 Stand 8201 For more information: www.vision.fraunhofer.de
