Industry: Automotive

Services and Materials Provided:

• Project management
• Robotic programming
• Vision System programming
• Data collection system
• Onsite start-up support

Situation Analysis

This system was a final error-proofing station for an automotive component being assembled by a tier one automotive supplier. The aim of this system was to detect any errors with regards to the required parts being installed onto the component. The components were previously checked manually, which was the weakest link in the production- line for both accuracy and time. Automating this process not only speeded up the production of the components, but also removed any human errors that used to occur upon inspection.

Technical Details

This system incorporated a six-axis robot with a high-end camera on the end effector. The error-proofing system ‘scanned’ the finished automotive component by means of the robot/camera to verify that all required components were present and correctly installed. The images taken by the camera were analyzed using the vision systems software, and verifying that the correct component had not only been installed in the correct place, but also made sure that it was "seated" correctly. A data collection system was also used in this project to store images of all of the failed components. The robotic cell was surrounded by a protective cage, with light curtains/sensors to prevent any injuries to operators. A HMI was on the cell to inform the operator of the outcome of the error-proofing check.