Product Spotlight Apr 30, 2021 6 min read

When vision meets Decision

Visual Inspection – Inline Defect Detection

For many parts in industrial production a surface is created by many process steps: casting or forming, machining, grinding, polishing, painting, finishing, and coating of different materials. Each step requires feedback and quality control.

When vision meets Decision

Thousands of components and products made for automotive, aerospace, medical, and consumer electronics have specific demands on proper surface quality, both for cosmetic and functional purposes. From a cosmetic perspective, how something appears or feels to a customer affects its value and its overall quality. This impacts the way a customer looks at your brand, reputation and quality. Many components also rely functionally on the quality of the surface. Defects can affect part performance and reliability.

ZEISS SurfMax offers a reliable high-speed inline solution for visual inspection of all types of surfaces. Material finishes and coatings from matte to high polish and from opaque to transparent may be evaluated.

The SurfMax images surfaces in multiple channels: greyscale, gloss and slope

This allows minute defects to be identified and differentiated.

The SurfMax software not only identifies and categorizes these anomalies, but has the ability to determine the severity of the defect by means of production-defined sensitivity settings. This allows SurfMax to distinguish the difference between real defects and acceptable surface anomalies to eliminate overkill and escapes. Through tailored algorithms and machine learning, SurfMax has changed visual inspection from a subjective art into a predictable science.

Slope: It provides consistent evaluation of surface topography and form at localized regions and highlights defects including dents, deep scratches, orange peel and other form- and shape-related errors.

Final Classification: detected surfaces and severity classification

Grayscale: It provides information related to changes in white light reflectivity and highlights defects such as discoloration and dot imperfections, as well as part contours.

Gloss: It provides detailed information on the level of gloss and highlights defects such as scratch, texture nonuniformity, residue and even fingerprints, based on how much light scattering is observed.

Reporting and Statistical Analysis with ZEISS PiWeb
By creating a digital library of defects, SurfMax offers 100% traceability and the opportunity to identify trends in the manufacturing process. ZEISS PiWeb allows the user to plot and view defect images and classification on the CAD model.

Specific defects my be isolated during batch run analysis to detect and correct patterns in the production process.

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