Machine vision system identifies defects in uniform web materials

In order to provide a means for accurate, real-time defect detection in web materials produced in continuous rolls at high-speeds, Active Inspection, Inc. developed a machine vision inspection system that utilizes multiple line scan cameras and machine vision software.

Manufacturers of materials such as plastics, papers, foils, films, metals and non-wovens require 100% surface inspection, which enables them to remain competitive and meet regulatory requirements by identifying and resolving problems early in the production process so that defective good do not reach the market. Realizing this, Active Inspection, Inc. manufactures the AI Surface vision system, which performs complete web inspection on a number of materials, including glossy, matte, and textured surfaces, for which the company utilizes adaptable filters. Defects identified by the AI Surface inspection system include gels, skips, pinholes, roll-marks, holes, and scratches.

Depending on the complexity of a particular application, AI Surface includes up to eight 4K or 8K line scan cameras. For lower-end applications, the system uses Teledyne DALSA Piranha2 4K cameras connected to a Matrox Solios eV-CL PCIe Camera Link frame grabber. Piranha2 4K monochrome cameras feature 4096 x 1 pixels and a CMOS image sensor with a 7 µm x 7 µm pixel size. These cameras, which feature base Camera Link output format, achieve a maximum line rate of 18 kHz.

For higher-end applications, the AI Surface system uses four Teledyne DALSA Piranha3 8K monochrome cameras connected to a Matrox Radient eCL PCIe Camera Link frame grabber. Piranha3 Came8K cameras feature 8192 x 1 pixels and a CMOS image sensor with a 7 µm x 7 µm pixel size. These cameras, which feature Camera Link medium or full output format, achieve a maximum line rate of 33 kHz.

In addition to the cameras, the AI Surface inspection system utilizes ProPhotonix Lotus LED line lights for illumination, a multi-CPU Windows-based workstation, a National Instruments DAQ for data acquisition, a marker/tagger, an encoder, and a Microsoft SQL database server.

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