Sick | Cameras from RIBE Technik are used to monitor the assembly facility

Quality assurance through programmable imaging: RIBE Technik from Schwabach has developed an innovative bumper assembly system that includes an inspection system.

Machine vision from SICK enables the identification of individual components and the monitoring of each operating process, a special system concept that is also revolutionary for other manufacturers and suppliers.

　　Lead

The higher the level of individuality in production, the more important it is that dedicated systems with innovative potential become. With a focus on providing value-added services to end customers, RIBE Know-Plus has demonstrated its specific technological strengths in the assembly and inspection systems for the automotive interior/exterior industry and related components. Managing Director Dietmar Heckel sees collaborative robots and robotics with innovative Industry 4.0 solutions and digital concepts as not only the backbone of RIBE Technik, but also a cross-industry growth area.

In recent years, modular structures and their modular designs have been fully standardized. According to Tobias Magg, project manager at RIBE, it is becoming increasingly important to inspect individual components in an assembly system. That's why they now offer this bumper final assembly system for the automotive and machine building industries, which checks step by step that the correct parts for a particular bumper have been selected and installed, and the worker can also see the results intuitively and clearly on the screen in front of him.

　　01 More customization needs, more quality control

Whether it's a reversing camera or a windshield wiper system, there are always multiple options for the same model, which means there are multiple bumper variants for different combinations. "As a result, the likelihood of assembly errors is increasing," says Tobias Magg. Correction after each sale is not only expensive, but also not good for the manufacturer's quality image.

In the early stages of his cooperation with RIBE, Walter Spiegel, a sales engineer at SICK, enlisted the help of an application engineer in order to clarify the task from the ground up. "The key question is: we need to bring in more light," he says of the assembly system. Many of the cameras we initially considered produced blurry contrast in the dark parts on a black bumper background – demanding and small parts scenes.

Therefore, the powerful light source and visual sensitivity of the InspectorP642 2D vision camera were one of the decisive factors in the final selection of this device for RIBE.

Sick | Cameras from RIBE Technik are used to monitor the assembly facility

　　2D machine vision

　　02 The camera covers a wide field with a large distance

The camera is located 110 cm above the bench bumper, enough distance to keep it out of the area where interference could be caused. Workers can avoid the risk of hitting cameras when installing adapters, hoses, cameras, and other electronic devices inside the bumper. With just three cameras, it is possible to establish a large field of view that looks down on the entire bumper, which is another reason why lighting is a decisive factor.

Tobias Magg points out the benefits this brings to his customers: "In the past, standard sensor technology required a large number of fibers or a single sensor. Or multiple cameras with backlighting and additional lighting units. The new solution is also flexible enough to meet the following requirements:

　　From left: Tobias Magg, Project Manager Mechanical Design at RIBE Technologies; Walter Spiegel, Regional Account Manager at SICK Sales Company.

　　03 Image Guidance Assistance

Stefan Hochhäuser, Product Manager at SICK, who is also involved in the project, says: "As soon as the worker leaves the workbench to remove a component, he triggers an inspection of his work and thus initiates the next work step." ”

The movement is detected by a small TiM100 2D LiDAR sensor with a 200° field of view. Monitoring the area in front of the assembly system with such a compact sensor is a simple and cost-effective solution for RIBE, which is easy to integrate into the system and provides stable measurement of worker movements.

　　With the help of the TiM100 2D LiDAR sensor and the triggering of the InspectorP642, it is immediately possible to detect whether the correct part has been installed correctly. If there is an error (the screen is red), you cannot start the next work step. "If the check is correct, the next action prompt is automatically displayed to the worker," says Hochhäuser. Therefore, it is no coincidence that the product is named "Inspector".

In addition, it takes about a minute for a worker looking for a fast and efficient process to install each component. Thanks to the non-contact trigger, it no longer needs to press many buttons to start and stop the camera. This saves some time, which in turn improves the overall workday and saves costs.

　　04 Quality check via the app in the sensor

Another prerequisite for increased productivity lies in the sensors themselves, more specifically in their quality check applications. It enables RIBE to configure various inspection tasks in advance. For example, sensors constantly check that jobs are being executed correctly. This simplifies programming in the PLC, as the sensor sends the results to the controller via the TIA ("Totally Integrated Automation") portal. The worker is then highlighted by color on the screen, and the task is switched or advanced if the results are checked correctly. As a result, the app makes it easier for customers to get started with image processing. "Parameterization in the sensor makes it easy to create inspection tasks in the vision sensor," says Tobias Magg. Theoretically, up to 16 jobs (inspection tasks) can be defined in a single camera.

The SICK software is also suitable for vision cameras of all sizes. "If RIBE wanted to implement this concept elsewhere, we didn't have to make any changes in terms of software," says Stefan Hochhäuser. "You can extract the parameters and easily transfer them to another device in the product range." What's exciting about this solution is its universal flexibility when it comes to the future development of other components and inspection tasks. "We are now laying the groundwork for further applications beyond assembling bumpers," says Tobias Magg.

In the future, RIBE Technik will implement efficient manufacturing and quality inspection solutions based on machine vision from SICK, offering possibilities beyond the controller screen.

　　Source: Sick

Sick | Cameras from RIBE Technik are used to monitor the assembly facility

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