Entering quality control data is just a finger pointing exercise
07 February 2013
Researchers have developed a type of quality control whereby detected defects are entered into the inspection system with the simple point of a finger.
The point of the finger is all it takes to send a detected defect to the QS inspection system, store it and document it (photo: Fraunhofer IOSB)
A somewhat futuristic vision of quality control could soon become an everyday part of quality assurance. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Optronics, System Technologies and Image Exploitation (IOSB) in Karlsruhe have developed this intelligent gesture control system on behalf of the BMW Group.
The gesture control system improves the inspector’s working conditions and brings substantial time savings; inspectors can remain at their workstation and interact directly with the test object. If a component is fault-free, the inspector swipes over it from left to right. In the event of damage, he points to the location of the defect.
This non-contact gesture-detection system is based on 3D data. Hence, the entire workstation must first be reconstructed in 3D. That includes the individual as well as the object with which he is working. In order to enable gesture control, the 3D-body tracking is applied, which records the individual’s posture in real time. Even the car body parts are tracked.
The hardware requirements are minimal, claims the IOSB. A standard PC and two Microsoft Kinect systems – consisting of camera and 3D sensors – suffice in order to realize the reconstruction. The IOSB team developed the corresponding algorithms, which fuse multiple 2D and 3D images together, specifically for this kind of application, and adapted them to the standards of the BMW Group.
The technology can be subsequently integrated into existing production systems at little expense.
The non-contact gesture-detection process will be on display in Hall 2, Booth D18 at the 2013 Hannover Fair, which takes place from 8 to 12 April.