Project focus

  • Enabling inline measurement systems for fast roll-to-roll production
  • Achieving precision measurement systems for reflective surfaces in motion
  • Developing flexible measurement systems for moving freeform surfaces
  • Enabling high throughput measurements on large moving objects

Description

Modern production systems, particularly for the high-tech sector, have a continuously growing demand for precision and throughput. The permanent monitoring and control of the manufacturing process by means of sensors, as well as inline 3D measurement systems for quality inspection are prerequisites to achieve a high yield and high quality of the produced goods. Besides novel production plants and automated assembly techniques, advanced robotic measurement systems for inline applications are considered as the most important enabler for future production.

Current inline measurement systems suffice for many of today’s applications requiring moderate precision or permitting a throughput reduction by stopping the sample. They are, however, neither suited for the increasing speed and precision demands of future production systems, due to the increasing motion-induced measurement uncertainty, nor able to provide the required flexibility for handling product variations or measuring at various locations on spatially extended freeform samples. Due to high acquisition speeds, minimal physical interaction with the sample, and simultaneous measurements in more than one dimension, optical sensors are the preferred choice for inline applications. Robotic systems, or more generally speaking kinetic automats and manipulators, designed for moving material, parts, or tools, can alleviate limitations of today’s inline measurement systems and provide the required versatility. They can provide either continuous or non-continuous motion in one or more degrees of freedom to dynamically position the measurement system with respect to a moving sample and maintain a constant alignment throughout the measurement process. The primary focus will be on the development of a systematic approach for the system integration and design of high precision inline systems for 3D measurements on moving objects that ensures an overall system performance not limited by the relative motion of the sample and as close as possible to the optimal performance of the respective 3D sensor system.

Simplified concept drawing of robotic in-line measurement: moving sample on conveyor with velocity v+Δv v+Δv, measurement platform (MP) with tracking sensors (TS, SCCS), in-plane sensors (IPS), and voice coil actuators (VCA), with IR sensor above.

Fig. 1 Schematic depiction of a robotic inline system for 3D measurements on conveyed objects.

Robotic measurement setup with a stepper motor and linear stage moving a conveyed sample, a robot arm carrying a 3D sample-tracking measurement module, and infrared sensor (IR) with defined coordinate axes x,y,z x,y,z.

Fig. 2 Setup of the dual stage positioned system for high-precision 3D measurements on moving samples

Applications

In-line metrology

Related publications

Journal articles

2024

Conference publications

2024

Project partners

Funding