Full underbody scan and component presence/absence analysis at critical points

Need

Clips and straps are tiny next to the long underbody, and pipes and exhaust shadow them. The narrow gap under the vehicle rules out seeing the whole floor in one frame. Unless lines are matched to vehicle travel, the image stretches or shrinks and a critical point is sought in the wrong place.

Solution approach

An upward-looking line-scan camera below the ramp, with a bar light either side of the line, images the underbody line by line as the vehicle moves; two-sided light fills the shadows of pipes and exhaust. An entry photo-sensor starts the scan; lines are matched to vehicle travel and stitched into one image, where the presence of the part in each critical region is checked against a reference.

Process steps

1. 01

   Entry

   The vehicle enters the ramp; the scanner and lights stand ready.

2. 02

   Scan

   As the vehicle advances, the line-scan camera images the underbody line by line.

3. 03

   Stitch

   Lines are matched to vehicle speed and stitched into one underbody image.

4. 04

   Analyse

   At each defined critical point the presence of the component is checked.

5. 05

   Decide

   The point list is stored with the vehicle ID; a missing part is reported with its position.