| PRODUCT
TESTING (BUCKET SEAT) |
Product
Testing
(Bucket Seat)
A
heated bucket seat must be analyzed for
functionality and safety. |
|
|
|
|
|
| DIE
CASTING (ALUMINUM) |
Die
Casting
(Aluminum)
Giant
die casting machines press a mold designed
to hold molten aluminum. |
|
|
|
|
|
| LASER
WELDING (PLASTIC) |
Laser
Welding
(Plastic)
Technicians need to monitor thermal patterns
during the welding process. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Case
Study: Die Casting (Aluminum) |
|
The
Problem: Variability
in the die cast manufacturing process introduces porosity
in the cast products which results in expensive scrap.
Variation in shot parameters (pressure), velocity, &
die temperature are all critical
process parameters that must be controlled. Die
cast process engineers were looking for a means to study
the baseline of the existing shot characteristics and
come up with an advanced alert system that alarms if
the process deviates from this baseline.
|
The
Solution:
Although there is a way to record the
shot pressure and velocity, there is no cost-effective
way to monitor the entire cavity temperature profile.
The AXT100 fills this gap by providing a convienient
turn-key solution. In this case, the AXT100 was mounted
on the moving plates of the die casting machine. The
AXT100 Labview Interface displays and analyzes the temperature
data in real-time, while ImageJ generates intricate
graphs and quantitative reports from collected data.
|
 Setting
Alarms for PLCs with InternalWeb DV:
InternalWebDV
is a browser-based application allowing the
user to monitor any AXT100 Thermal Imaging Camera
from anywhere on the factory floor (even wirelessly).
This application features SIFTA, or Software
Interface For Thermal Alarms. With SIFTA, the
user can paint custom regions of interest
and link them to relays on an Advantech
ADAM 6060 Series I/O Module. Additionally, any
PLC that uses the Modbus protocol may inqure
alarm status through Ethernet. The
end result is humanless product inspection.
InternalWeb DV is extremely powerful.
Communicating
with Modbus:
Modbus
is a protocol which operates on a TCP/IP port.
Many PLCs today use it to communicate with peripheral
equipment. The AXT100 is equipped for a PLC
to inquire alarm status using this protocol.
PLC networks that are not yet Modbus-ready may
interface with the ADAM-6060 using its relays.
|
|
Temperature
histogram of a selected region on the
die. |
|
Using
the AXT100 for Process Control:
The
AXT100, when coupled with ImageJ, helps
identify problems in a process. Thermal
imaging reveals information that would
otherwise have to be obtained very inconveiniently.
Process analysts and engineers can use
thermal imagery to modify the automation
of their equipment, decreasing downtime
and increasing output.
About
ImageJ :
ImageJ
has powerful analysis tools. Here, a
time plot of a region of interest shows
thermal trends across the gathered slices.
3D histograms and multiple selection
tools are only a few additional features
of ImageJ. Process control engineers
can use this data while modifying the
process. Product testers can also use
ImageJ to detect and analyze thermal
subtleties in their data. |
|
Line
plot over time (498sec @ 1FPS) of the temperature
of a point of interest (in this case, the maximum). |
|
|
|
