Revolutionizing Seat Inspection for Automotive Components: A Case Study in Automation and Accuracy
Client: A global automotive component manufacturer and supplier of exterior lighting systems, powertrains, electrical and electronics, body and chassis parts to passenger car and motorcycle segments worldwide.
Problem: The company faced several challenges in their seat inspection process:
Manual Feeding: The manual feeding of seats resulted in varying orientation, making it difficult to achieve consistent inspection results.
Light Condition and Color Changes: Minor changes in light conditions and seat feature colors often led to false inspection results, impacting quality control.
Expensive Machine Vision Expertise: Adding or modifying features on new seat variants required the expertise of expensive machine vision professionals, leading to increased operational costs.
- AIC Ported on NVIDIA Jetson Xavier: Advanced Inspection Camera (AIC) technology was integrated with NVIDIA Jetson Xavier for high-performance image processing and analysis.
- DIY Software Framework: The company developed a custom software framework tailored to their specific seat inspection needs, providing flexibility and control over the inspection process.
- Basler 2.3 MP Camera: High-resolution Basler cameras were deployed to capture detailed seat images for inspection.
- Machine-Mounted UI: A user-friendly machine-mounted user interface (UI) was designed to streamline the inspection process and allow operators to monitor results in real-time.
- Domino Inkjet Printer: Domino inkjet printers were utilized for marking and labeling inspected seats..
Solution: The company implemented a comprehensive solution to address these challenges:
Results:
The implementation of these solutions yielded significant benefits for the company:
- 100% Accurate Inspection: By utilizing AIC technology and the DIY software framework, the company achieved 100% accurate seat inspections, eliminating errors and reducing rework.
- New Variant Addition Mode: The company implemented a new variant addition mode, allowing them to capture images of new seat variants and easily submit them for training. This streamlined the process of adapting to new product variants.
- Remote Update of New Models: The system enabled remote updates for new seat models, reducing the need for on-site machine vision expertise and saving costs associated with modifications.
In conclusion, the company’s collaboration with advanced technology solutions, including AIC technology, DIY software development, and high-quality cameras, revolutionized their seat inspection process. They achieved remarkable accuracy, flexibility, and cost savings, positioning the company as a leader in automotive component inspection.
This case study illustrates how innovative technology can address complex manufacturing challenges, enhance product quality, and drive operational efficiency.