Ford award for sensor development work
An
Oxford Sensor Technology product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team
Nov 20, 2001
The Ford Motor Company has presented Dr Colin Morgan of Oxford Sensor Technology with a Henry Ford Technical Achievement Award for the development of an innovative new sensor system
The Ford Motor Company has presented Dr Colin Morgan, Technical Director of Oxford Sensor Technology (OST) with a Henry Ford Technical Achievement Award for the development of an innovative new sensor system, which allows windscreens to be automatically inserted while a vehicle is still moving along a production line.
The Specular Reflection Sensor (SRS) was developed by Dr Morgan to overcome the problems associated with traditional camera systems used in automated glazing cells, such as operating speed and colour dependency.
The SRS uses specular reflections, the glints seen along curved surfaces on shiny materials, to locate curves on the car body, thus locating the windscreen aperture.
Space and layout constraints at the Ford's Dagenham plant prevented the use of a static insertion cell.
So, in the late 1990's, a team from Ford started looking into the feasibility of automatically inserting windscreens whilst a vehicle was moving along the production line.
The operating speed of traditional sensor systems prevented their use but the high speed OST Specular Reflection Sensor was tested and found to be highly effective.
Ford Dagenham (UK) is now the only plant in the world where windscreens are fitted automatically whilst the vehicle is moving along the production line.
Relocation of the glazing system, to another plant, has already been planned to coincide with the end of Fiesta production at Dagenham.
The system has also been used in static insertion cells at Ford and MG Rover and a number of further orders have already been received.
Members of the Ford development team, together with the system integrator, also received awards.
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