DMC automated a previously manual inspection process for a client’s airplane turbine parts and provided a standardized approach for all inspections.
Our expertise in vision detection and vision analysis allowed us to successfully make our client’s inspection process more efficient and reliable. The client had a 2D camera that took photos to identify any potential dents in the airplane turbine parts. If dents were found, the client then used a 3D camera to measure the depth of the dent and determine whether the part could be serviced or not.
DMC selected the camera sensor and lighting to meet various inspection thresholds for finding defects on the part. We then tested how well the camera performed and found defects on the parts.
To automate the inspection process, DMC used a program called Actin, a robot control SDK created by Energid, that does path planning and motion control for robots. This allowed DMC to build a virtual environment with collision volumes so that the camera could capture quality images without damaging expensive blades in the engine. With Actin, DMC created these volumes, similar to keep out zones, for the robots to prevent them from hitting other parts that exist in the system – like the parts themselves or the work cell walls. This also helps with the path planning to reach these arbitrary points so that we point the camera in exactly the correct place to capture the images needed.
DMC developed GRPC Drivers to communicate between the Actin run time and Inspector, the Python application.
We also provided the client with archived images of all the parts they were servicing. The client can look back on these images in the future to verify what a part looked like at the time it was checked for damage.
Operators load in their inspection file and the machine will go through and highlight all the damage-related information. They then go in and verify the results. This autonomous system allows operators to complete other tasks while the system runs instead of inspecting each blade manually.
Learn more about DMC’s Machine Vision Inspection and Integration services and contact us today for your next project.