Case Studies

3D Coplanarity Multi-Inspection with LabVIEW

3D Coplanarity Multi-Inspection with LabView
Posted in LabVIEW, Machine Vision, Manufacturing Automation and Intelligence, Test & Measurement Automation

Summary

DMC developed a custom LabVIEW application for conducting coplanarity analysis inspections on the pins of electrical connectors. A Keyence LJ-V7000 laser sensor was controlled through the LabVIEW program to acquire a 3D image for analysis. The application was configurable for an arbitrary number of coplanarity-based inspections as well as being easily programmable for analyzing different part types with varying feature sets.

Solution

DMC began by working closely with the customer to layout the necessary requirements before doing the initial development at our Chicago Office. To create an accurate image of the part, a Heidenhain Linear Encoder was used as a trigger to the Keyence Laser for acquiring scans. DMC determined the correct electrical setup and software configuration of the Keyence and Heidenhain encoder for doing this. To minimize cycle time, the Keyence settings were configured for high-speed acquisition. For timing synchronization and reporting part pass/fail results to the PLC, digital I/O signaling was used. The application used a USB DIO device for this communication.

For the image analysis, the program architecture was designed to be configurable for varying feature sets and inspection types. Once an image is acquired, the following analysis is done. First, a part origin is established relative to the available datum features. This is used to extract sub images at the relative locations of the features of interest. These sub images are then processed to extract the height of those features (such as pin height). With the heights of all features measured, the coplanarity of those features can be determined.

Learn more about DMC's LabVIEW vision application development.

Customer Benefits

  • Cycle time reduced by 40% from previous coplanarity inspection system
  • Coplanarity inspections configurable

The client needed experts in laser sensor technologies as well as the latest vision analysis techniques to meet their requirements.

Technologies

  • Keyence LJ-V7000 laser sensor
  • Heidenhain Linear Encoder
  • National Instruments LabVIEW
  • DAQmx used with USB DAQ device
  • NI Vision Development library