High Resolution Line Scan
Unique problems often call for unique results. We firmly believe every application has a solution. Instead of trying to explain our experience, we prefer to let it speak for itself.
Unique problems often call for unique results. We firmly believe every application has a solution. Instead of trying to explain our experience, we prefer to let it speak for itself.
Can you imagine climbing into a brand-new sports car, buckling in for that test drive for a car you have always dreamt about, you fire it up, you look down at the instrument cluster and see a speedometer that registers at 220 MPH, you then…. Wait, you all the sudden see a print defect on the instrument cluster. A small pin hole in the instrument cluster just busted your dream of the entire car. Unfortunately, this is not an uncommon scenario. Print defects make up a large portion of traditional machine vision applications. Often, these defects are in a specific area, and they are a specific shapes and sizes.
Random defects, on the other hand, are hard to find and when they are micron in size, it’s a “needle in a haystack”. Looking at these defects, a common solution would use multiple cameras. However, this still would not achieve buyoff due to the FOV (field of view) constraints and the resolution needed to find the defect size, let alone the many hours of programming and the difficulties with multiple images. When SolVIS was approached about this inspection, it came as no surprise to us that the customer was struggling. This customer, along with many others, print automotive instrument clusters in house and require extensive quality control due to minute margins of error.
This client was utilizing multiple high-resolution cameras to pinpoint areas where common defects occur. However, in doing this, they were struggling to catch random defects because of exposure times and general image distortion. After kicking the tires on the customers images, we quickly gathered some samples and headed to the lab. Many, ad ill emphasize again, MANY trials and tribulations, we finally found the solution to the problem. A high-res line scan solution capable of finding the smallest of defects, even in the micron level, by running these images through a deep learning algorithm. This was a tall task to deliver a production ready solution due to the extreme precision in mechanical mounting, lighting, lensing, and general algorithm development.
This solution often makes me think of a verse from James 1:2, consider it a joy to encounter such trials. At SolVIS, we enjoy the tough applications and the many trails it takes to find the solution. The joy of assisting this customer, and many others, when finding the right solution is what keeps us plowing forward.
For more information about this application, reach out to
Matt Quiett.
