Correlation-Free Inline Robotic Measuring Cell Launched
In the Smart Factory of tomorrow, the measuring systems must generate absolutely accurate and traceable measurement results in the line without waiting for results from the CMM measuring room. This means that the tasks of inline process control and classic measurement technology must be combined in one system, thus creating extraordinary added value for automobile manufacturers.
Conventional in-line measuring systems in the automotive industry currently monitor the production process and provide production plant operators with trends regarding process stability and quality. Due to changing environmental conditions on the line such as temperature differences, correlation measurements must be carried out at regular intervals with metrology instruments in a dedicated measuring room. This process takes time and adds expense.
Newly introduced solutions from ZEISS eliminate these time-consuming correlation measurements allowing production process control and quality assurance tasks to be combined in one system providing reliable and meaningful measurement data beginning with the first part. This enables plant operators to monitor both the production processes and the quality of the manufactured vehicle body components.
The ZEISS AICell consists of AIMax cloud 3D sensor, tracking cameras and a carbon body with LED tags, which forms a fixed unit with the sensor. Tracking cameras identify the location and position of the sensor by detecting the LED tags on the carbon cage. The system accuracy of AICell trace is independent of the robot’s ability to accurately locate the measurement sensor. This networked system makes it possible to acquire reliable and informative measurement and inspection data with the desired level of precision.
The AIMax cloud optical 3D sensor offers a new benchmark in robot-based 3D in-line metrology for sheet metal and car body construction measurements The sensor generates 3D point clouds directly at the production line and measures complex features with high precision in a fraction of a second.
Absolutely InLine Measurements
With the ZEISS AICell trace, features such as bolts, holes and edges can be measured directly in the line in fractions of a second. The ZEISS AIMax cloud 3D sensor, with its high precision and speed, enables the inspection of the quality-relevant features required for inline process control in production. As a result of the new tracking technology of the ZEISS AICell trace, which records the sensor position of the ZEISS AIMax cloud on the robot arm with high accuracy regardless of temperature influences, time-consuming correlation measurements with coordinate measuring machines (CMM) in a dedicated measuring room are no longer necessary. This means that reliable, traceable measurement and test data are available from the first component produced during production start-up.
In the production cycle, 100% inspection of up to 80 relevant characteristics required for inline process control is possible, and up to 300 metrologically relevant characteristics can be measured on a rotational basis for a car underbody. This results in a much higher measuring frequency for quality assurance and much higher accuracy for process control.
For more information: www.zeiss.com/metrology
