To meet the increasing demands of quality assurance and control programmes in manufacturing, and to introduce a required element in total automation systems, AIM Inc., USA, a manufacturer of CNC wire bending machines, has implemented a vision inspection system to be used with 2D and 3D wire bending machines. The system uses one (2D-parts) or 2 (3D-parts) cameras to capture the image of parts produced on machines. The image is analysed (in micro-seconds) to measure pre-set dimensions, calculate tolerance deviations and generate a �pass/fail� signal based on the analysis. The system allows for �pass� or �fail� parts to be sorted, or production can be interrupted if out-of-tolerance parts exceed a pre-set number. It can be programmed to call/page a supervisory site and send a report if failure mode is engaged. Using measured data from the image control programme, AIM engineers are developing a method to dynamically adjust machine parameters and automatically correct production deviations while parts continue in production.
