Refrigeration inspection for Inficon
Mr. Trieb: Leak detection has become an essential step in the production process of a lot of products we use on a daily basis. A lot of material has to remain leak-proof to operate properly and safely. A wheel rim, for example, should not lose any air and to remain tight at all times.
Refrigeration inspection
The application we needed a solution for, is the final inspection in the refrigerator production process. This inspection is carried out when the refrigerator is already filled with the cooling gas. At this point all the joints that have been soldered or screwed have to be checked for leaking gas by a robot.
The challenge in this process is that refrigerators are produced and assembled completely manually, meaning that the joints are never at exactly the same location – which makes it impossible to rely on a CAD drawing of the machine to guide the robot. The location of the joints can vary by 1 centimeter in all directions.
The set direction and depth can only be determined when the robot goes into the machine. Because of this, a 2D camera was not good enough for this application. When we went looking for a fitting partner, Visionerf was immediately ready to get involved into this project. Because of their enthusiasm and knowledge, we decided to work together with Visionerf almost immediately.
Another advantage of the Visionerf solution is that the software for this camera also does the robot planning, making sure Inficon does not have to do any programming. It also allows us do determine the cycle time – which was a very important factor for us in this application.
The advantages are quite clear, Mr. Trieb explains: the process can now be automated and the accuracy has increased significantly, up to almost 100%. Before, the process had to be done manually, and it was never entirely clear if the inspection had been performed completely correct – sometimes resulting in high quality costs. With the Visionerf solution, we are sure that the product is leak proof, which is also a great guarantee towards the customer.
Mr. Trieb concludes: We’ve been working with Visionerf since 2019and I have to say that the collaboration has been wonderful so far. We’ve had the support we needed when it comes to getting things done quickly Visionerf has been working on the software, the specialised software for Inficon throughout and I have to say the satisfaction with Visionerf is just great. It was fun and it continues to be fun to work with them.
Challenges
- Perform robotic leak detection on joints that are never in the same location
Solution
- Cirrus 3D camera with software to guide the robot
Results
- Less manual intervention
- Higher accuracy
- Lower quality costs