Over the last few decades, technological advances have taken giant steps forward, putting pressure on the industrial sector to find new solutions that keep up with growing demands regarding quality and efficiency. Solving these problems requires a harmonious union between automated technology and humans in a world increasingly focused on digitizing the knowledge and data surrounding us.
Point Cloud technology has revolutionized many industrial processes, surpassing services such as 3D CAD modeling. 3D inspection systems are now integrated into the entire operational development of the industry, from the user experience sectors to the quality management phase. Implementing this technology in metrological procedures in quality inspection remains the ‘power matrix’ of these systems, guaranteeing the detection of geometric variations in the order of ‘micro’.
Why does industry choose 3D?
Much of the industrial sector still uses quality inspection methods that rely on primitive systems or manual measurement data collection. Today, this approach does not allow the industry to be competitive, resulting in the loss of customers and the decline of the sector. Today, modern industrial manufacturers are looking to make informed decisions and rely on solid, accurate representations capable of recreating our visual reality and eliminating the subjectivity associated when identified with 2D systems.
Point cloud technology can represent the characteristics of any object in three-dimensional space with high precision and speed, making it the first choice for scanning projects, 3D modeling, and obtaining metric data without losing out on injecting data analysis processes.
Where can you find Point Cloud technology?
Optical automatic quality inspection (AOI) systems for automotive parts and molds allow the comparison of computer-designed models to determine whether they are within the quality limits required by the manufacturer. These systems have strict standards that ensure compliance in the sector, classifying parts based on analyses of the measured data or comparisons with CAD models.
Today, the automotive industry uses LiDAR technology in most vehicles as its ‘eyes’ for driver safety and the basis for developing autonomous vehicles. The LiDAR system captures a cloud of points from the surrounding environment, making it possible to map the route, detect objects on the road, measure distances, and orientate on the road, contributing to car navigation.
Point Cloud of automotive parts
Industry of the future
As part of the Industry 5.0 vision, the main objective of the tools for automating the sector is the maximum collection of data, capable of changing current development to obtain products with a better finish while respecting the demands of industrial-technological requirements. The integration of Point Cloud technology, combined with artificial intelligence (AI) tools, can radically transform production processes and the efficiency of operations. Collaboration between humans and intelligent systems applied to XYZ data captured from point clouds aims to automate pattern recognition, identify faults in real time, and predict problems based on historical data, contributing to a green transformation of the industry by reducing waste in production.
Increasing the personalization and sustainability of production, with a focus on a more ‘human-centric’ and resilient approach, is based on the principles of Industry 5.0 of integrating additive manufacturing (AM) processes and product personalization, with a reduction in errors and more effective adaptability, by applying Deep Learning and Machine Learning methods to the data generated by Point Cloud technology.
By: José Rubén Pérez
Researcher in the Computer Vision area (CVIG) at CCG/ZGDV Institute
