ECHTZEIT – Development of a high-precision robot system for automated optical inspections in AFP manufacturing systems
An automated quality control system is integrated in a high precision robot system in order to inspect ply boundaries and defects in the lay-up of CFRP parts manufactured in the AFP process.
Project Partners
Walter Seikowsky, GmbH
Duration
01.05.2020 – 30.04.2022
Funding authority
German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy
Motivation
The quality control of components manufactured in the AFP process currently represents a considerable amount of time in production. The inspection of component quality is performed visually by production staff after each placed ply. It is therefore susceptible to human error and represents a major cost factor. An automated inspection of the component surface as part of the online monitoring of AFP processes allows a reliable, highly accurate and cost-effective quality control in production.
Method
The goal of the project is the development of a high-precision robot system for the optical measurement and examination of AFP production parts. For this purpose, a laser sensor is installed as an optical inspection system at the end effector of a 6-axis robot. In cooperation with the project partner, a high-precision robot control system will be developed in order to provide a highly accurate, automated and fast quality control system. This system features a precise positioning of the sensor above the component, a high path accuracy and a machine vision software environment. Based on the surface data from the laser, the software is able to detect and to characterize defects in the laminate in real time. For this purpose, the measurement profiles are automatically synchronized with the robots position data in order to provide a highly precise localization of the defects.
