Technomix AG expands into new markets with inspection system

In November 2021, Technomix AG, based in Pommersfelden, Germany, commissioned its first automated inspection and sorting system, a TAVI.02-XL glass table inspection system from NELA. With this step from manual to automated visual inspection, Technomix has significantly expanded its range of services and has won new customers.

Technomix has already made a name for itself as a specialist in the manual visual inspection of highly complex components and counts world-famous companies such as Bosch and Schaeffler among its customers. The service provider has acquired considerable expertise in highly specialized inspection with technoscopes, which is perfect for difficult inspection tasks and medium-sized production batches.

A request for the visual inspection of synchronizer rings in larger batches triggered the search for an automated solution for defect inspection and sorting. The throughput required as part of the project could only have been achieved manually with considerable effort for logistical reasons alone, the handling was too complex and therefore ultimately too expensive. The inquiry therefore heralded a change of strategy at Technomix: the entry into fully automated optical inspection was to be the basis for significantly expanding the range of quality services once again with the aim of being able to carry out less complex inspections more quickly and therefore offer them at a significantly lower price.

Looking for a solution for the inspection of large batches

After an intensive application phase, a machine concept was defined together with NELA that meets the requirements of the current inspection task and at the same time leaves room for future use for other components. The TAVI.02-XL double glass disk inspection system is equipped with Dimension, Bottomside, Inside, Outside and special trevista® sensors with incident dome lighting based on Shape from Shading technology, which ensure comprehensive, all-round surface inspection and dimensional accuracy testing of the synchronizer rings. However, the machine is not only designed for these, but also for stamped parts with different geometries with a size range of 10 - 82 mm (OD).

Synchronizer rings pose a certain challenge for automated optical inspection due to the complexity of their surface with interlocking areas or functionally relevant zones such as plateaus, lugs and indentations on the outer and end faces. Certain defect features such as impact marks, burrs or imperfections can hardly be distinguished from the desired surface contours or functional features of the component using grayscale or color sensors, which is why trevista® sensors with Shape from Shading (SFS) technology were integrated into the NELA inspection system. The SFS sensors work with special lighting systems and generate images with depth information from the camera images in addition to grayscale images. This means that irregularities or defects on the part surface can not only be visualized but also clearly classified as such. In the TAVI.02-XL, however, the synchronizer rings are not only checked for surface defects, but also for geometric properties: The dimension sensor maps the silhouette of the ring, allowing diameter, spacing, as well as shape and dimensional accuracy to be verified very precisely and reproducibly. The trevista® sensors are also fully integrated into the inspection system on the software side, i.e. the evaluation takes place via NELA's VisionCheck software.

As the synchronizer rings have to be inspected from both sides due to their complex geometry, they are gently turned before being transferred to the second glass plate. The turning station was equipped with special belts and pneumatic cylinders to ensure smooth turning of the rigid parts measuring up to 82 mm.

NELA VisionCheck - adaptable for future inspection tasks

In future, different types of synchronizer rings are to be tested and sorted on the NELA system, each type with different surface structures. This means that a new inspection program must be configured for each type. With the VisionCheck software from NELA, test programs that have already been set up can be derived for similar test parts with little effort. All typical tasks can be covered with the inspection program modules available in VisionCheck, and special inspection program parts can also be added by script programming for extremely complex inspection tasks. "This offers us enormous flexibility, as we want to test 20 to 25 different synchronizer ring types on the NELA machine, which we can now add ourselves," says Technomix CEO Thomas Kraus.

At Technomix's request, a sound testing unit is currently being retrofitted to the TAVI.02-XL, which detects even the smallest cracks that are difficult or impossible to recognize visually.

However, the commissioning of the TAVI.02-XL is by no means the end of Technomix's future planning. A further system for the fully automatic inspection of sealing washers has already been ordered from NELA in order to be able to satisfy corresponding customer inquiries. Kraus is convinced that the investment will pay off: "We are in the process of acquiring new customers with inspection tasks in a range corresponding to our equipment, and we have also received corresponding inquiries from industry. In NELA, we have now found a partner with whom we can also respond flexibly to changing customer requirements at any time."