CANopen in a vision system selecting inspection positions
Source: CAN Newsletter March 2011
Previously, vision systems used for quality inspection were installed rigidly at one point in the assembly process. The workpieces to be inspected were transported past the camera lens on a conveyor belt. Now, the SBOC/Q vision system by Festo – part of a ready-to-install axis gantry – positions itself precisely at the workpiece to be inspected.The vision system integrator JAM Automation from Radevormwald (Germany) developed an assembly and inspection cell for an automobile-industry subcontractor. In a first step, the machine presses nine sockets made of soft plastic into a flange plate made of harder plastic. In a second step, the vision system carries out a 100‑percent inspection of the press-fitted plastic sockets. During this, the vision system travels automatically to each individual position of the sockets. Once all the plastic sockets have been correctly press-fitted into the flange plate, nine lamps light on the machine control panel. The machine operator can remove the flange plate from the machine and insert a new one.The SBOC/Q vision system is installed as the front end of an electric cantilever-arm handling unit. It provides complete control of the handling unit, thanks to the integrated Codesys PLC with CANopen NMT master functionality. No additional controller is required. “Previously inspection operations of this kind were carried out only by manual visual means – which took much more time and resulted in an higher error rate,” explains Michael Voss, Managing Partner of JAM Automation. The machine allows manufacturing process to be documented seamlessly and statistics to be evaluated.
