In-Sight Micro ensures instrument panel accuracy
A
Cognex UK product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team
Nov 4, 2008
Visteon Palmela supplies instrument clusters for many executive car models across Europe.
One vital element of the instrument cluster is the applique, a plastic sheet incorporating the speedo and tacho markings.
Each applique must be clipped into position with pinpoint precision, otherwise the vibrations could move the applique, resulting in the incorrect speed and revs being shown.
To ensure accurate assembly verification, a powerful vision system was needed to cope with Visteon's high-volume cluster production and to fit within the confines of the allocated space.
Alphr Technology offered to design, build, program and retro-fit the compact In-Sight Micro system on-site at Visteon's facility in Portugal.
In-Sight Micro measures 30 x 30 x 60mm.
This system complemented two existing Cognex In-Sight 1000 cameras, inspecting pointer alignment for the speedo, tacho, fuel and temperature gauges on each instrument panel.
To cope with customer demand, two identical production lines were required, running simultaneously.
Two In-Sight Micro cameras were fitted to each production line and were mounted onto a Flexlink frame, with LED spot lights mounted alongside the cameras.
Both production lines assemble the PCB with the necessary plastics and LCDs and test the parts.
The cameras use Patmax, Cognex's geometric pattern matching technology, to search for two plastic pips positioned at three o'clock and nine o'clock on each applique's white circle.
If these pips are obscured, the applique will not sit properly on top of the clip.
The Patmax software ensures each feature is located despite any process variation.
Each part is manually loaded onto the rig and then removed once the inspection is complete.
Results are viewed on a PC monitor using a test program written in Visual Basic 6.
Failure tickets are printed for the operators and all results are sent to a factory CIM system to monitor performance.
Any defective parts are manually removed from the rig once the operator has pressed the Reject Acknowledgement Key.
The speed of the machine for each part with manual on/off loading is 40 seconds.
The In-Sight Micros inspect each applique in less than half a second, ensuring production and optimum throughput remain constant.
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