Assembly Automation

Purpose – Quality control and part inspection add no monetary value to a product, yet are essential processes for manufacturers who want to maintain product quality. Mass-produced custom parts require processes that are able to perform high frequency of inspection, whilst providing rapid response to unanticipated changes in parameters such as throughputs, dimensions and tolerances. Frequent inspection of these parts significantly impacts inspection times involved. A method of reducing the impact of high-frequency inspection on production rates is needed. This paper addresses these issues.

Design/methodology/approach – This paper involves the research, design, construction, assembly and implementation of an automated apparatus, used for the visual inspection of moving custom parts. Inspection occurred at user-defined regions of interest (ROIs). Mechatronic Engineering principles are used to integrate sensor articulation, image acquisition and image-processing systems. The apparatus is tested in a computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM) cell for quantifying results.

Findings – Specified production rates are maintained whilst performing high frequencies of inspection, without stoppage of parts along the production line.

Research limitations/implications – The limitations of these results lie in the fact that they are suited only to the speed of the CIM cell. Higher inspection rates may be achieved, and changes in the design may be required in order to make the apparatus more suitable to industrial applications.

Practical implications – The paper shows that it is possible to maintain high standards of quality control without significantly affecting production rates.

Originality/value – Current research does not focus on maintaining production rates whilst inspecting custom parts. The use of ROI inspection for moving custom parts is a relatively new concept.