All vehicle systems and components are now manufactured using technologies based on industrial vision, deep learning, and barcode reading. Manufacturers of automotive parts and vehicle assembly plants benefit at every stage from vision solutions that address various challenges in the sector: defect detection on reflective materials, aesthetic inspection of components in complex visual environments, and classification of automotive parts. From stamping to engine verification to final inspection of overall assemblies and trim, Cognex vision solutions contribute to the production of safe and high-quality vehicles.
Industrial vision solutions contribute to efficient inspection of stamping for both small and large caliber metal parts. They are indeed capable of calculating coordinates and communicating them in real-time to robots, enabling them to accurately pick and place parts on a storage or stamping machine. Regardless of the shape or edge finish, Cognex vision solutions allow for the retrieval of parts, even on high-speed production lines.
Cognex industrial vision systems efficiently control the presence/absence of essential components in motor blocks such as clutches, valve housings, pistons, and gaskets. In practical terms, Cognex vision technologies assist manufacturers in ensuring that the parts are correctly assembled (such as the transmission assembly, for example) and that quality tracking is performed throughout the production chain (as in the case of engine blocks made possible by vision systems equipped with optical character recognition OCR).
Regardless of the assembly method (welding, brazing, gluing, riveting, etc.), Cognex industrial vision solutions contribute to the precise control of automotive parts (identification, measurement, inspection). For welded and brazed components, 3D vision systems can accurately guide robots to the correct location, ensuring the proper assembly of different chassis parts. These 3D systems also guarantee that weld seams are complete and of the correct thickness. Laser profiling systems, on the other hand, perform alignment checks for doors and other body elements.
Because it is crucial to detect defects in chassis parts before the welding stage, the combination of 2D and 3D industrial vision systems is preferable for an efficient and quick measurement of doors, trims, and various body elements. 3D industrial vision systems also automate racking and contribute to early inspection of body panels. For instance, Cognex barcode readers ensure that the correct parts are present in assembly kits, saving time at each station and increasing the number of vehicles produced daily.
The safety of the produced vehicles relies on the perfect integrity of components such as tires, belts, brake pads and valves, and airbags. Cognex vision solutions are capable of performing reliable inspections of all these elements in record time: for example, 3D laser displacement sensors check the dimensions of tire treads, which must meet specific criteria.
The visual inspection of trims on grilles, the front face, or door panels can be challenging due to the complexity of the surfaces. Cognex vision solutions, supported by Deep Learning, can inspect the presence/absence of components, such as wires, regardless of the surface involved.
Industrial vision systems and Deep Learning solutions thus address numerous challenges in the automotive sector, contributing to the production of secure and high-quality vehicles.