Development of new optical measurement system for efficiency improvement of automobile cylinder head inspection process.

Area of relevance: 
Production
Duration: 
1 April 2008 - 31 March 2011
Affiliation: 
University of Applied Sciences, Augsburg
Funded by: 
German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Germany

Abstract:

Inspection of cylinder head parameters is one of the time consuming activities for a quality control in any engine shop. Therefore till now this inspection is carried out offline on a random basis. The Federal Ministry for Education and Research, Germany felt the need to develop efficient, robot guided optical inline measuring system for this process. The task to develop such a system is carried out by the University of Applied Sciences, Augsburg and Institute for Photogrammetry, Stuttgart along with other Industry partners (GFMesstechnik GmbH - Berlin/Teltow, ISIS Sentronics GmbH - Mannheim, KUKA Roboter GmbH - Augsburg, BMW AG - Munich) and VDI Technology Centre.

The research is carried out in the field of:  1.Optical identification and position determination of the cylinder head with the help of a smart camera. 2.Robot guided accurate positioning of optical sensors (the sensors are mounted on a robot flange). 3.Optical measurement of different cylinder head parameters, e.g. combustion chamber volume, sealing surfaces, inner geometry of different bores, outer contours, etc.

The successful completion of the project would result into: 1.Automation of the inspection process. 2.Possibility of 100% parts inspection in the production line (inline). 3.Considerable reduction in the inspection time.