Visual detection system and method for lithium battery process

Abstract

A visual detection system and method for a lithium battery process. The system comprises a hub, a first image processing unit, a plurality of acquisition units, and an industrial personal computer; the first image processing unit is integrated on the hub; the plurality of acquisition units are electrically connected to the hub, respectively; the hub is communicatively connected to the industrial personal computer; the hub sends a trigger signal to the plurality of acquisition units by means of the first image processing unit; each acquisition unit photographs a lithium battery device to obtain a corresponding captured image, and sends the captured image to the hub; the hub performs fusion processing on the plurality of captured images by means of the first image processing unit to obtain a fused image, and sends the fused image to the industrial personal computer; and the industrial personal computer analyzes and processes the fused image to obtain an analysis result.

Description

Visual inspection system and method for lithium battery process

[0001] This disclosure claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the Patent Office of China on February 27, 2024, with application number 202410219420.2 and application name “Visual Inspection System and Method for Lithium Battery Process”; and the priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the Patent Office of China on February 27, 2024, with application number 202420371499.6 and application name “Visual Inspection System for Lithium Battery Process”; all contents of which are incorporated by reference into this disclosure. Technical Field

[0002] The embodiments of the present application relate to visual inspection technology, and are related to but not limited to a visual inspection system and method for lithium battery technology. Background Art

[0003] Visual inspection plays a crucial role in the production of lithium-ion battery devices. Using machine vision technology, visual inspection systems quickly and accurately inspect the appearance, dimensions, defects, and other features of lithium-ion battery devices to ensure product quality. Visual inspection plays a crucial role in lithium-ion battery production, improving product quality and production efficiency while reducing the errors and costs associated with manual inspection.

[0004] Therefore, how to improve the accuracy and efficiency of visual inspection of lithium battery equipment and reduce the inspection cost is an urgent problem to be solved. Summary of the Invention

[0005] In view of this, the visual inspection system and method for lithium battery process provided in the embodiments of the present application can improve the detection accuracy and detection efficiency during visual inspection in the lithium battery industry and reduce the detection cost. The visual inspection system and method for lithium battery process provided in the embodiments of the present application are implemented as follows:

[0006] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a visual inspection system for lithium battery processing, the system comprising a hub, a first image processing unit, a plurality of acquisition units, and an industrial computer, wherein the first image processing unit is integrated on the hub, the plurality of acquisition units are electrically connected to the hub, and the hub is communicatively connected to the industrial computer, wherein:

[0007] The hub is configured to send trigger signals to the plurality of acquisition units respectively through the first image processing unit;

[0008] Each of the acquisition units is configured to photograph the lithium battery device in response to a received trigger signal, obtain a corresponding photographed image, and send the photographed image to the hub;

[0009] The hub is configured to perform fusion processing on the plurality of captured images through the first image processing unit to obtain a fused image, and send the fused image to the industrial computer;

[0010] The industrial computer is used to analyze and process the fused image to obtain an analysis result, which includes a quality inspection result of the lithium battery device or a defect inspection result of the lithium battery device.

[0011] In some embodiments, the system further comprises a programmable logic controller, the programmable logic controller being communicatively connected to the hub, wherein:

[0012] The programmable logic controller is used to send the trigger signal to the hub, so that the hub responds to the received trigger signal and sends trigger signals to multiple acquisition units respectively through the first image processing unit.

[0013] In some embodiments, the system further includes a second image processing unit, which is integrated on the hub and connected to the first image processing unit, wherein:

[0014] The second image processing unit is configured to receive the captured image sent by each acquisition unit, pre-process each captured image to obtain a plurality of pre-processed images, and send the plurality of pre-processed images to the first image processing unit;

[0015] The first image processing unit is configured to perform fusion processing on the multiple pre-processed images to obtain the fused image;

[0016] The preprocessing includes splicing processing, edge detection processing and / or contour extraction processing.

[0017] In some embodiments, the system further comprises an intelligent reasoning unit, which is integrated on the hub and connected to the second image processing unit and the first image processing unit, wherein:

[0018] The intelligent reasoning unit is configured to receive the plurality of pre-processed images sent by the second image processing unit, perform feature recognition on each of the pre-processed images to obtain a plurality of feature recognition images, and send the plurality of feature recognition images to the first image processing unit;

[0019] The first image processing unit is used to perform fusion processing on the multiple feature recognition images to obtain the fused image.

[0020] In some embodiments, data is transmitted between the hub and the multiple acquisition units via a camera data transmission CXP cable, a network cable, an optical fiber cable or a port.

[0021] In some embodiments, the connection mode between the hub and the plurality of acquisition units is determined by bandwidth requirements.

[0022] In some embodiments, a communication connection is established between the hub and the industrial computer via one or two cables.

[0023] In some embodiments, the lithium battery equipment includes a lithium battery winding machine and / or a stacking machine.

[0024] In some embodiments, the acquisition unit includes an image acquisition module and an input / output module.

[0025] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a visual inspection method for lithium battery processes, which is applied to a visual inspection system for lithium battery processes. The system includes a hub, a first image processing unit, multiple acquisition units, and an industrial computer. The first image processing unit is integrated on the hub, and the multiple acquisition units are electrically connected to the hub, respectively. The hub and the industrial computer are communicatively connected. The method includes:

[0026] Controlling the first image processing unit through the hub to send trigger signals to the plurality of acquisition units respectively, so that each acquisition unit photographs the lithium battery device in response to the received trigger signal, obtains a corresponding photographed image, and sends the photographed image to the hub;

[0027] The hub controls the first image processing unit to fuse the multiple captured images to obtain a fused image, and the fused image is sent to the industrial computer so that the industrial computer analyzes and processes the fused image to obtain an analysis result, which includes a quality inspection result of the lithium battery device or a defect inspection result of the lithium battery device.

[0028] The visual inspection system and method for lithium battery processing provided in the embodiments of the present application integrate a first image processing unit on a hub, electrically connect the hub to multiple acquisition units, and connect the hub to an industrial computer. The hub serves as an intermediate medium, and the hub controls the first image processing unit to uniformly send trigger signals to each acquisition unit, enabling each acquisition unit to respond to the trigger signal and capture a lithium battery device. The system also controls the first image processing unit to fuse the multiple captured images to obtain a fused image, which is then sent to the industrial computer, allowing the industrial computer to perform quality inspection or defect detection on the lithium battery device.

[0029] In this way, on the one hand, by integrating the first image processing unit on the hub, the hub is electrically connected to the acquisition unit and sends a trigger signal, which can avoid the problem that different image processing units send trigger signals to corresponding acquisition units respectively, causing interference or loss between different trigger signals, thereby causing the number of captured images obtained by each acquisition unit to be inconsistent; on the other hand, the hub is separately connected to the industrial computer, and the hub fuses multiple images and sends the obtained fused image to the industrial computer, which can avoid the problem that different acquisition units are connected to the industrial computer to transmit images respectively, causing image transmission failure or loss, and can reduce the number of cable connections and reduce costs. It can be seen that the visual inspection system and method for lithium battery processes provided in the embodiments of the present application can improve the detection accuracy and detection efficiency of quality inspection or defect detection of lithium battery equipment in the lithium battery industry during visual inspection, and reduce detection costs. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0030] The drawings herein are incorporated into and constitute a part of the specification. These drawings illustrate embodiments consistent with the present application and, together with the specification, are used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present application.

[0031] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of the effect of a visual inspection system in the related art provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0032] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of the effect of a visual inspection system for lithium battery process provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0033] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of another lithium battery process visual inspection system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0034] FIG4 is a schematic diagram showing the effect of another visual inspection system for lithium battery process provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0035] FIG5 is a schematic diagram showing the effect of another visual inspection system for lithium battery process provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0036] FIG6 is a schematic diagram of an implementation flow of a visual inspection method for lithium battery technology provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0037] FIG7 is a schematic diagram of the implementation process of another visual inspection method for lithium battery process provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0038] To make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present application clearer, the specific technical solutions of the present application will be further described in detail below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application. The following embodiments are used to illustrate the present application but are not intended to limit the scope of the present application.

[0039] Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by those skilled in the art to which this application pertains. The terms used herein are for the purpose of describing the embodiments of this application only and are not intended to limit this application.

[0040] In the following description, reference is made to “some embodiments”, which describes a subset of all possible embodiments, but it will be understood that “some embodiments” may be the same subset or different subsets of all possible embodiments and may be combined with each other without conflict.

[0041] It should be pointed out that the terms "first\second\third" involved in the embodiments of the present application are used to distinguish similar or different objects, and do not represent a specific ordering of the objects. It can be understood that "first\second\third" can be interchanged with a specific order or sequence where permitted, so that the embodiments of the present application described here can be implemented in an order other than that illustrated or described here.

[0042] Visual inspection plays a crucial role in the production of lithium-ion battery devices. Using machine vision technology, visual inspection systems quickly and accurately inspect the appearance, dimensions, defects, and other features of lithium-ion battery devices to ensure product quality. Visual inspection plays a crucial role in lithium-ion battery production, improving product quality and production efficiency while reducing the errors and costs associated with manual inspection.

[0043] In related art, cameras are typically used for visual inspection of lithium batteries, and to ensure inspection requirements, multiple cameras must operate simultaneously. As shown in Figure 1, the cameras are considered a single unit, each comprising an acquisition unit and an image processing unit. Each camera can be connected to an industrial computer to transmit captured images, which are then analyzed to generate analysis results.

[0044] However, in the above detection process, each camera is treated as an independent unit, and all control lines and data transmission lines are independent. All cameras are controlled by electrical IO to take pictures. There are the following problems: (1) Since the trigger line of each camera is independent, the trigger signal is guaranteed to be synchronized by electrical synchronization, but due to the existence of signal interference, the actual number of shots of the two cameras is inconsistent. (2) Since the data transmission line of each camera is independent, due to the influence of bandwidth, PC performance, cables or hardware problems such as acquisition cards, images may be lost during transmission, which may also cause the cameras to be out of sync and the number of images taken to be inconsistent. (3) Since the cables between the cameras are independent, each camera needs to be equipped with two or more sets of cables, which increases the number of cables, costs and cable duct space.

[0045] That is to say, the visual inspection method provided in the related art may have the problem of inconsistent numbers of images captured by the acquisition units of multiple cameras when there are multiple cameras. This will lead to inaccurate detection results when the industrial computer later detects defects or quality of the equipment. In addition, different cameras are connected to the industrial computer separately, which increases the number of cables and is more expensive.

[0046] In light of this, an embodiment of the present application provides a visual inspection system for lithium battery manufacturing. As shown in Figure 2, the system comprises a hub 1, a first image processing unit 2, multiple acquisition units 3, and an industrial computer 4. The first image processing unit 2 is integrated into the hub 1, and the multiple acquisition units 3 are electrically connected to the hub 1. A communication connection is established between the hub 1 and the industrial computer 4.

[0047] The hub 1 sends trigger signals to the multiple acquisition units 3 respectively through the first image processing unit 2.

[0048] In the embodiment of the present application, the first image processing unit 2 is integrated on the hub 1 , and the first image processing unit 2 can simultaneously control multiple acquisition units 3 to capture images.

[0049] In some embodiments, the first image processing unit may be an ISP (Image Signal Processing), which is a hardware module for processing image signals. In a camera or image acquisition system, the ISP is responsible for processing, analyzing, and optimizing the raw image data captured by the camera sensor to produce higher quality and more accurate images.

[0050] In an embodiment of the present application, the hub 1 can control the first image processing unit 2 to send the same trigger signal to multiple acquisition units 3 respectively, and the trigger signal is used to instruct the multiple acquisition units 3 to simultaneously shoot the lithium battery device once or multiple times.

[0051] It should be noted that the same trigger signal indicates that the number of shots taken by different acquisition units 3 at the same time is the same. In this way, the number of captured images obtained by different acquisition units can be guaranteed to be consistent. Compared with the related art in which one acquisition unit is equipped with one image processing unit, the embodiment of the present application only uses one first image processing unit to control the sending of separate trigger signals to different acquisition units. This can avoid the problem that different image processing units send trigger signals to corresponding acquisition units respectively, which causes mutual interference or loss between different trigger signals, resulting in inconsistent numbers of captured images obtained by each acquisition unit. It can also effectively reduce the number of control lines and data transmission lines, ensure the stability of the detection system, and reduce detection costs.

[0052] In the embodiments of the present application, the method for transmitting data between the hub and the multiple acquisition units is not limited. For example, in some embodiments, data transmission between the hub and the multiple acquisition units can be performed via a camera data transmission CXP cable, a network cable, or a fiber optic cable. Alternatively, data transmission between the hub and the multiple acquisition units can be performed via a hardware port such as a USB interface or a network port.

[0053] Among them, the CXP cable is a camera data transmission cable, mainly used to replace the cameralink protocol, and is commonly used in scientific cameras, industrial cameras, medical imaging, aviation and defense and other scenarios.

[0054] In some embodiments, the method for transmitting data between the hub and the multiple acquisition units may also be selected based on bandwidth requirements. That is, the connection method between the hub and the multiple acquisition units may be determined by bandwidth requirements.

[0055] Each acquisition unit 3 photographs the lithium battery device in response to the received trigger signal, obtains a corresponding photographed image, and sends the photographed image to the hub 1 .

[0056] In some embodiments, lithium battery equipment can be divided into three categories, including front-end, middle-end, and back-end. That is, the production process of lithium-ion batteries is generally divided into three processes: front-end, middle-end, and back-end, corresponding to electrode production, cell assembly, and post-processing (cell activation). The core equipment of these three production processes includes mixers, coaters, and roller separators in the front-end, winders, stackers, and welders in the middle-end, and formation and capacity separation equipment in the back-end.

[0057] In some embodiments, as shown in Figure 2, the acquisition unit may include an image acquisition module and an input / output module. The input / output module is an I / O module that can implement functions such as signal acquisition, data transmission, and control.

[0058] In some embodiments, the lithium battery equipment includes a lithium battery winding machine. A lithium battery winding machine is a key piece of equipment in lithium-ion battery manufacturing, primarily used to wind positive and negative electrode sheets and separators together in a designed arrangement to form a battery cell. Winding machines typically feature high speed, high precision, and high reliability to ensure the high performance and safety of the produced batteries.

[0059] The structure of a winding machine typically includes a frame, a winding device, a pole piece feeding device, an auxiliary pressure plate and cutting device, a tape feeding device, and an electrical control unit. The winding device is the core component, consisting of a removable winding mechanism. It uses a stepper motor and planetary reducer combination to achieve precise winding control. The winding process is a key step in the lithium battery manufacturing process. If a defective product is produced during the winding process, the entire battery cell will be wasted. Therefore, the yield rate has a significant impact on the battery manufacturing cost.

[0060] In other embodiments, the lithium battery device further includes a stacking machine.

[0061] When the lithium battery stacking machine is working, the positive and negative electrodes and diaphragms can be loaded into the material box, picked up by a robot, and stacked on the stacking table.

[0062] The hub 1 performs fusion processing on the multiple captured images through the first image processing unit 2 to obtain a fused image, and sends the fused image to the industrial computer 4.

[0063] In some embodiments, after receiving multiple captured images, the hub 1 can fuse the multiple captured images through the first image processing unit 2, fuse the multiple captured images into one, obtain a fused image, and only send the fused image to the industrial computer 4.

[0064] In some embodiments, the hub and the industrial computer can establish a communication connection via one or two cables. In this way, the hub 1 can send multiple captured images to the industrial computer 4 based on the one or two cables, thereby effectively reducing the number of cables used.

[0065] It can be understood that since the hub 1 can be directly connected to the industrial computer 4, and each acquisition unit 3 does not need to be connected to the industrial computer 4 separately, the number of cable connections can be effectively reduced and the detection cost can be lowered.

[0066] In some embodiments, in addition to fusing multiple captured images and sending the processed fused images to the industrial computer 4, the hub 1 can also send each captured image obtained separately to the industrial computer 4; or, the hub 1 can also select some captured images from multiple captured images and send them to the industrial computer 4, etc.

[0067] The industrial control computer 4 analyzes and processes the fused image to obtain analysis results, which include quality inspection results of the lithium battery device or defect inspection results of the lithium battery device.

[0068] After receiving the fused image, the industrial computer can perform image analysis on the fused image to obtain quality inspection results or defect detection results for the lithium battery equipment.

[0069] Here, the industrial computer only needs to analyze a single image. Compared with analyzing multiple images at the same time, it can effectively reduce the computing power burden on the industrial computer and improve the analysis accuracy of the industrial computer.

[0070] Among them, quality inspection of lithium battery equipment may include size inspection, structure inspection, color inspection, optical inspection, internal structure inspection, assembly inspection and labeling inspection, etc.

[0071] Dimensional testing may include inspecting the dimensions of lithium-ion devices, including length, width, height, and other parameters, to ensure that the product meets the required dimensions. Structural testing may include inspecting the correct assembly of lithium-ion devices, such as whether the positive and negative poles of the battery are correctly installed and whether there are any missing parts. Color testing may include inspecting the color of the lithium-ion devices to ensure that the battery color meets the requirements. For example, for batteries of a specific color, it may be necessary to ensure that the coating is uniform and has no color differences.

[0072] Optical inspection may include testing the gloss, transparency and other characteristics of lithium-ion battery equipment to ensure that the product meets the optical performance requirements; internal structure inspection may include testing the internal structure and component arrangement of lithium-ion battery equipment to ensure that the internal structure of the battery meets the requirements; assembly inspection may include testing the assembly quality of lithium-ion battery equipment, such as whether the battery cover is fastened and the screws are tightened; identification inspection may include testing the identification and labels of lithium-ion battery equipment to ensure that the identification is clear, accurate and meets the specified requirements.

[0073] Defect detection of lithium battery equipment may include appearance inspection, character inspection and surface defect inspection.

[0074] Among them, appearance inspection may include detecting whether there are defects on the surface of lithium battery equipment, such as scratches, pits, stains, etc.; character inspection may include detecting characters on lithium battery equipment to obtain product information, such as production date, capacity, etc.; surface defect inspection may include detecting various defects on the surface of lithium battery equipment, such as cracks, bubbles, protrusions, depressions, etc. These defects may affect the performance and safety of the battery.

[0075] In an embodiment of the present application, a first image processing unit is integrated into a hub, the hub is electrically connected to multiple acquisition units, and the hub is connected to an industrial computer. The hub serves as an intermediate medium, and the hub controls the first image processing unit to uniformly send a trigger signal to each acquisition unit. This allows each acquisition unit to respond to the trigger signal, capture a lithium battery device, and send the captured images to the hub. The hub then sends the multiple captured images to the industrial computer, allowing the industrial computer to perform quality inspection or defect detection on the lithium battery device.

[0076] In this way, on the one hand, by integrating the first image processing unit on the hub, the hub is electrically connected to the acquisition unit and sends a trigger signal, which can avoid the problem that different image processing units send trigger signals to corresponding acquisition units respectively, causing interference or loss between different trigger signals, thereby causing the number of captured images obtained by each acquisition unit to be inconsistent; on the other hand, the hub is separately connected to the industrial computer, and the hub fuses multiple images and sends the obtained fused image to the industrial computer, which can avoid the problem that different acquisition units are connected to the industrial computer to transmit images respectively, causing image transmission failure or loss, and can reduce the number of cable connections and reduce detection costs. It can be seen that the visual inspection system for lithium battery processes provided in the embodiment of the present application can improve the detection accuracy and detection efficiency of quality inspection or defect detection of lithium battery equipment in the lithium battery industry during visual inspection, and reduce detection costs.

[0077] The present application also provides a visual inspection system for lithium battery manufacturing. As shown in Figure 3, the system includes a hub 1, a first image processing unit 2, multiple acquisition units 3, an industrial computer 4, and a programmable logic controller 5. The first image processing unit 2 is integrated into the hub 1, the multiple acquisition units 3 are electrically connected to the hub 1, the hub 1 establishes a communication connection with the industrial computer 4, and the programmable logic controller 5 is in communication with the hub 1.

[0078] The programmable logic controller 5 sends a trigger signal to the hub 1.

[0079] Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) is an industrial automation control device that uses programmable memory to store instructions for performing operations such as logic operations, sequential control, timing, counting, and arithmetic operations, and controls various types of production processes through digital or analog input / output interfaces.

[0080] In some embodiments, the PLC may be in communication with the hub 1 and send the trigger signal to the hub 1 instead of directly sending the trigger signal to the multiple acquisition units 3 .

[0081] In response to the received trigger signal, the hub 1 sends the trigger signal to the multiple acquisition units 3 through the first image processing unit 2.

[0082] Each acquisition unit 3 photographs the lithium battery device in response to the received trigger signal, obtains a corresponding photographed image, and sends the photographed image to the hub 1 .

[0083] Here, the steps performed by the hub 1 and each acquisition unit 3 are the same as those described in the above embodiment and will not be repeated here.

[0084] The hub 1 performs fusion processing on the multiple captured images through the first image processing unit 2 to obtain a fused image, and sends the fused image to the industrial computer 4.

[0085] In some embodiments, after receiving multiple captured images, the hub 1 can fuse the multiple captured images through the first image processing unit 2, fuse the multiple captured images into one, obtain a fused image, and only send the fused image to the industrial computer 4.

[0086] In this way, the hub 1 transmits only one fused image to the industrial computer 4, which can effectively avoid image loss during the transmission process, thereby improving the detection accuracy of lithium battery devices.

[0087] The industrial control computer 4 analyzes and processes the fused image to obtain analysis results, which include quality inspection results of the lithium battery device or defect inspection results of the lithium battery device.

[0088] After receiving the fused image, the industrial computer can perform image analysis on the fused image to obtain quality inspection results or defect detection results for the lithium battery equipment.

[0089] Here, the industrial computer only needs to analyze a single image. Compared with analyzing multiple images at the same time, it can effectively reduce the computing power burden on the industrial computer and improve the analysis accuracy of the industrial computer.

[0090] In the embodiment of the present application, on the one hand, by integrating the first image processing unit on the hub, the programmable logic controller is electrically connected to the acquisition unit through the hub and sends a trigger signal, which can avoid the problem that different image processing units send trigger signals to corresponding acquisition units respectively, causing interference or loss between different trigger signals, thereby causing the number of captured images obtained by each acquisition unit to be inconsistent; on the other hand, the hub is separately connected to the industrial computer, and the hub fuses multiple images and sends the obtained fused image to the industrial computer, which can avoid the problem that different acquisition units are connected to the industrial computer to transmit images respectively, causing image transmission failure or loss, and can reduce the number of cable connections and reduce detection costs. It can be seen that the visual inspection system for lithium battery process provided by the embodiment of the present application can improve the detection accuracy and detection efficiency of quality inspection or defect detection of lithium battery equipment in the lithium battery industry during visual inspection, and reduce detection costs.

[0091] The present application further provides a visual inspection system for lithium battery manufacturing. As shown in Figure 4, the visual inspection system includes a hub 1, a first image processing unit 2, multiple acquisition units 3, an industrial computer 4, a programmable logic controller 5, and a second image processing unit 6. The first image processing unit 2 is integrated into the hub 1, the multiple acquisition units 3 are electrically connected to the hub 1, the hub 1 is in communication with the industrial computer 4, the programmable logic controller 5 is in communication with the hub 1, and the second image processing unit 6 is integrated into the hub 1 and connected to the first image processing unit 2.

[0092] The programmable logic controller 5 sends a trigger signal to the hub 1.

[0093] In response to the received trigger signal, the hub 1 sends the trigger signal to the multiple acquisition units 3 through the first image processing unit 2.

[0094] The hub 1 sends trigger signals to the multiple acquisition units 3 respectively through the first image processing unit 2.

[0095] Each acquisition unit 3 photographs the lithium battery device in response to the received trigger signal, obtains a corresponding photographed image, and sends the photographed image to the hub 1 .

[0096] Here, the method of executing the above steps is the same as that described in the above embodiment, and will not be repeated here.

[0097] The hub 1 controls the second image processing unit 6 to pre-process each captured image to obtain a plurality of pre-processed images, and sends the plurality of pre-processed images to the first image processing unit 2 .

[0098] In some embodiments, a second image processing unit 6 may be integrated on the hub of the visual inspection system for lithium battery processes. The second image processing unit 6 and the first image processing unit 2 may assist each other to jointly complete the processing of multiple captured images.

[0099] In some embodiments, the second image processing unit 6 may first pre-process the multiple captured images separately, including stitching, edge detection, and / or contour extraction. By pre-processing the multiple captured images, the efficiency of subsequent processing by the first image processing unit on the multiple captured images can be effectively improved.

[0100] In some embodiments, image edge detection and contour extraction can be achieved through image edge detection technology. The principle of image edge detection is primarily based on grayscale changes and differential operations. By filtering and performing differential operations on the image, edge and contour information can be detected. Common edge detection algorithms include the Roberts operator, the Sobel operator, the Prewitt operator, and the Canny operator. These algorithms can detect edges and contours in an image by performing operations and processing on the pixel values ​​of the image and generate a corresponding edge image.

[0101] The first image processing unit 2 performs fusion processing on the multiple pre-processed images to obtain a fused image, and sends the fused image to the industrial computer 4 .

[0102] After receiving the multiple pre-processed images transmitted by the second image processing unit 6 , the first image processing unit 2 may perform fusion processing on the multiple pre-processed images to obtain a fused image, and send the fused image to the industrial computer 4 .

[0103] In this way, the first image processing unit 2 transmits only one fused image to the industrial computer 4, which can effectively avoid image loss during the transmission process, thereby improving the detection accuracy of lithium battery devices.

[0104] The industrial control computer 4 analyzes and processes the fused image to obtain analysis results, which include quality inspection results of the lithium battery device or defect inspection results of the lithium battery device.

[0105] In the embodiment of the present application, on the one hand, by integrating the first image processing unit on the hub, the hub is electrically connected to the acquisition unit and sends a trigger signal, which can avoid the problem that different image processing units send trigger signals to corresponding acquisition units respectively, causing interference or loss between different trigger signals, thereby causing the number of captured images obtained by each acquisition unit to be inconsistent; on the other hand, the hub is separately connected to the industrial computer, and the hub sends the image to the industrial computer, which can avoid the problem that different acquisition units are connected to the industrial computer to transmit images respectively, causing image transmission failure or loss, and can reduce the number of cable connections and reduce detection costs. It can be seen that the visual inspection system for lithium battery processes provided in the embodiment of the present application can improve the detection accuracy and detection efficiency of quality inspection or defect detection of lithium battery equipment in the lithium battery industry during visual inspection, and reduce detection costs.

[0106] The present application also provides a visual inspection system for lithium battery manufacturing. As shown in FIG5 , the visual inspection system includes a hub 1 , a first image processing unit 2 , multiple acquisition units 3 , an industrial computer 4 , a programmable logic controller 5 , a second image processing unit 6 , and an intelligent reasoning unit 7 .

[0107] Among them, the first image processing unit 2 is integrated on the hub 1, multiple acquisition units 3 are electrically connected to the hub 1 respectively, a communication connection is established between the hub 1 and the industrial computer 4, the programmable logic controller 5 is communicatively connected to the hub 1, the second image processing unit 6 is integrated on the hub 1, the second image processing unit 6 is connected to the first image processing unit 2, and the intelligent reasoning unit 7 is integrated on the hub 1, and the intelligent reasoning unit 7 is connected to the second image processing unit 6 and the first image processing unit 2.

[0108] The programmable logic controller 5 sends a trigger signal to the hub 1.

[0109] The hub 1 forwards the trigger signal to the multiple acquisition units 3 through the first image processing unit 2.

[0110] Each acquisition unit 3 photographs the lithium battery device in response to the received trigger signal, obtains a corresponding photographed image, and sends the photographed image to the hub 1 .

[0111] The hub 1 controls the second image processing unit 6 to pre-process each captured image to obtain multiple pre-processed images, and sends the multiple pre-processed images to the intelligent reasoning unit 7.

[0112] The preprocessing includes stitching processing, edge detection processing and / or contour extraction processing.

[0113] In some embodiments, the second image processing unit 6 may establish a communication connection with the intelligent reasoning unit 7, and the intelligent reasoning unit 7 may establish a communication connection with the first image processing unit 2, thereby achieving data transmission between them.

[0114] In this way, after the second image processing unit 6 pre-processes the multiple captured images to obtain the multiple pre-processed images, the multiple pre-processed images can be sent to the intelligent reasoning unit 7.

[0115] The intelligent reasoning unit 7 performs feature recognition on each pre-processed image to obtain multiple feature recognition images, and sends the multiple feature recognition images to the first image processing unit 2.

[0116] In some embodiments, the intelligent inference unit may be an AI inference unit. Image AI inference refers to the process of identifying, analyzing, and processing images using artificial intelligence technology. Through deep learning and computer vision technology, image AI inference can identify and classify objects, scenes, faces, and other objects in images, and can also extract and apply information such as features, textures, and colors from the images.

[0117] In this way, the intelligent reasoning unit performs feature recognition on each pre-processed image to obtain a feature recognition image corresponding to each pre-processed image, and then sends multiple feature recognition images to the first image processing unit 2.

[0118] In an embodiment of the present application, by using the intelligent reasoning unit and the second image processing unit in conjunction, effective features in the captured image can be effectively extracted in the early stage, thereby reducing the subsequent calculation amount of the first image processing unit and improving processing efficiency.

[0119] The first image processing unit 2 performs fusion processing on the multiple pre-processed images to obtain a fused image, and sends the fused image to the industrial computer 4 .

[0120] After receiving the multiple feature recognition images transmitted by the intelligent reasoning unit 7 , the first image processing unit 2 can perform fusion processing on the multiple feature recognition images to obtain a fused image, and send the fused image to the industrial computer 4 .

[0121] In this way, the first image processing unit 2 transmits only one fused image to the industrial computer 4, which can effectively avoid image loss during the transmission process, thereby improving the detection accuracy of lithium battery devices.

[0122] The industrial control computer 4 analyzes and processes the fused image to obtain analysis results, which include quality inspection results of the lithium battery device or defect inspection results of the lithium battery device.

[0123] The visual inspection system for lithium battery process provided by the above embodiment has the following advantages:

[0124] (1) By separating the acquisition unit and the image processing unit, the system structure becomes more flexible. Appropriate acquisition units and image processing units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve different functions and performances.

[0125] (2) Due to the independent design of the acquisition unit and the image processing unit, when the number of cameras needs to be increased or the performance of the system needs to be improved, the acquisition unit or the image processing unit can be easily expanded without the need to redesign and build the entire system.

[0126] (3) Through batch purchasing and standardized production, the cost of the acquisition unit and image processing unit can be reduced, thereby reducing the cost of the entire system. In addition, due to the flexibility and scalability of the system, the cost of subsequent maintenance and upgrades can also be reduced.

[0127] (4) Using a hub to achieve synchronous and asynchronous triggering of multiple cameras can enable multiple acquisition units to work simultaneously and collaboratively, improving the efficiency and response speed of the system.

[0128] (5) Due to the independent design of the acquisition unit and the image processing unit, when a module fails, it can be easily replaced and repaired without affecting the operation of the entire system.

[0129] The present embodiment provides a schematic flow diagram of a method for visual inspection of lithium battery processes. The method is applied to the visual inspection system for lithium battery processes provided in the above embodiment. As shown in FIG6 , the method may include the following steps 601 to 602:

[0130] In step 601, the hub controls the first image processing unit to send trigger signals to multiple acquisition units respectively, so that each acquisition unit responds to the received trigger signal to photograph the lithium battery device, obtain corresponding photographed images, and send the photographed images to the hub.

[0131] In an embodiment of the present application, the first image processing unit is integrated on the hub, and the first image processing unit can simultaneously control multiple acquisition units to capture images.

[0132] In some embodiments, the first image processing unit may be an ISP, namely Image Signal Processing, which may be a hardware module for processing image signals.

[0133] In an embodiment of the present application, the hub can control the first image processing unit to send the same trigger signal to multiple acquisition units respectively, and the trigger signal is used to instruct the multiple acquisition units to simultaneously shoot the lithium battery device once or multiple times.

[0134] It should be noted that the same trigger signal indicates that the number of shots taken at the same time by different acquisition units is the same. In this way, the number of captured images obtained by different acquisition units can be guaranteed to be consistent. Compared with the related art in which one acquisition unit is equipped with one image processing unit, the embodiment of the present application only uses one first image processing unit to control the sending of separate trigger signals to different acquisition units. This can avoid the problem that different image processing units send trigger signals to corresponding acquisition units respectively, which causes mutual interference or loss between different trigger signals, resulting in inconsistent numbers of captured images obtained by each acquisition unit. It can also effectively reduce the number of control lines and data transmission lines, ensure the stability of the detection system, and reduce detection costs.

[0135] In the embodiments of the present application, the method for transmitting data between the hub and the multiple acquisition units is not limited. For example, in some embodiments, data transmission between the hub and the multiple acquisition units can be performed via a camera data transmission CXP cable, a network cable, or a fiber optic cable. Alternatively, data transmission between the hub and the multiple acquisition units can be performed via a hardware port such as a USB interface or a network port.

[0136] Among them, the CXP cable is a camera data transmission cable, mainly used to replace the cameralink protocol, and is commonly used in scientific cameras, industrial cameras, medical imaging, aviation and defense and other scenarios.

[0137] In some embodiments, the method for transmitting data between the hub and the multiple acquisition units may also be selected based on bandwidth requirements. That is, the connection method between the hub and the multiple acquisition units may be determined by bandwidth requirements.

[0138] In this way, each acquisition unit can photograph the lithium battery device in response to the received trigger signal, obtain corresponding photographed images, and send the photographed images to the hub.

[0139] In some embodiments, lithium battery equipment can be divided into three categories, including front-end, middle-end, and back-end. That is, the production process of lithium-ion batteries is generally divided into three processes: front-end, middle-end, and back-end, corresponding to electrode production, cell assembly, and post-processing (cell activation). The core equipment of these three production processes includes mixers, coaters, and roller separators in the front-end, winders, stackers, and welders in the middle-end, and formation and capacity separation equipment in the back-end.

[0140] In some embodiments, the lithium battery equipment includes a lithium battery winding machine. A lithium battery winding machine is a key piece of equipment in lithium-ion battery manufacturing, primarily used to wind positive and negative electrode sheets and separators together in a designed arrangement to form a battery cell. Winding machines typically feature high speed, high precision, and high reliability to ensure the high performance and safety of the produced batteries.

[0141] In some other embodiments, the lithium battery equipment further includes a stacking machine. When the lithium battery stacking machine is in operation, positive and negative electrode sheets and separators can be loaded into a material box, picked up by a robot, and stacked on a stacking table.

[0142] In step 602, the hub controls the first image processing unit to fuse the multiple captured images to obtain a fused image, and sends the fused image to the industrial computer so that the industrial computer analyzes and processes the fused image to obtain an analysis result, which includes a quality inspection result of the lithium battery device or a defect inspection result of the lithium battery device.

[0143] In some embodiments, a communication connection can be established between the hub and the industrial computer via one or two cables, so that the hub can send multiple captured images to the industrial computer based on the one or two cables.

[0144] It can be understood that since the hub can be directly connected to the industrial computer, and each acquisition unit does not need to be connected to the industrial computer separately, the number of cable connections can be effectively reduced and the detection cost can be reduced.

[0145] In some embodiments, in addition to fusing multiple captured images and sending the processed fused images to the industrial computer, the hub can also send each captured image separately to the industrial computer; or, the hub can also select some captured images from multiple captured images and send them to the industrial computer, etc.

[0146] In this way, the industrial computer can analyze and process the fused image to obtain analysis results, which include quality inspection results of the lithium battery equipment or defect inspection results of the lithium battery equipment.

[0147] In an embodiment of the present application, a first image processing unit is integrated into a hub, the hub is electrically connected to multiple acquisition units, and the hub is connected to an industrial computer. The hub serves as an intermediate medium, and the hub controls the first image processing unit to uniformly send a trigger signal to each acquisition unit. This allows each acquisition unit to respond to the trigger signal, capture a lithium battery device, and send the captured images to the hub. The hub then sends the multiple captured images to the industrial computer, allowing the industrial computer to perform quality inspection or defect detection on the lithium battery device.

[0148] In this way, on the one hand, by integrating the first image processing unit on the hub, the hub is electrically connected to the acquisition unit and sends a trigger signal, which can avoid the problem that different image processing units send trigger signals to corresponding acquisition units respectively, causing interference or loss between different trigger signals, thereby causing the number of captured images obtained by each acquisition unit to be inconsistent; on the other hand, the hub is separately connected to the industrial computer, and the hub fuses multiple images and sends the obtained fused image to the industrial computer, which can avoid the problem that different acquisition units are connected to the industrial computer to transmit images respectively, causing image transmission failure or loss, and can reduce the number of cable connections and reduce detection costs. It can be seen that the visual inspection system for lithium battery processes provided in the embodiment of the present application can improve the detection accuracy and detection efficiency of quality inspection or defect detection of lithium battery equipment in the lithium battery industry during visual inspection, and reduce detection costs.

[0149] The present application further provides a schematic flow chart of a method for visual inspection of lithium battery processes. The method is applied to the visual inspection system for lithium battery processes provided in the above embodiment. As shown in FIG7 , the method may include the following steps 701 to 705:

[0150] Step 701: Send a trigger signal to a hub via a programmable logic controller, so that the hub forwards the trigger signal to multiple acquisition units via a first image processing unit.

[0151] Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) is an industrial automation control device that uses programmable memory to store instructions for performing operations such as logic operations, sequential control, timing, counting, and arithmetic operations, and controls various types of production processes through digital or analog input / output interfaces.

[0152] In some embodiments, the PLC may be in communication with the hub and send the trigger signal to the hub instead of directly sending the trigger signal to the multiple acquisition units.

[0153] In this way, the hub can send trigger signals to the multiple acquisition units respectively through the first image processing unit in response to the received trigger signal.

[0154] In step 702 , each acquisition unit photographs the lithium battery device in response to the received trigger signal, obtains a corresponding photographed image, and sends the photographed image to the hub.

[0155] Here, the method of executing step 702 is the same as that of step 601 in the above embodiment, and will not be repeated here.

[0156] Step 703: Control the second image processing unit through the hub to pre-process each captured image to obtain multiple pre-processed images, and send the multiple pre-processed images to the intelligent reasoning unit.

[0157] In some embodiments, a second image processing unit and an intelligent reasoning unit may also be integrated on the hub of the visual inspection system for lithium battery processes. The second image processing unit and the intelligent reasoning unit can assist the first image processing unit to jointly complete the processing of multiple captured images.

[0158] In some embodiments, the second image processing unit may first pre-process the multiple captured images separately, including stitching, edge detection, and / or contour extraction. By pre-processing the multiple captured images, the efficiency of subsequent processing by the first image processing unit on the multiple captured images can be effectively improved.

[0159] In some embodiments, image edge detection and contour extraction can be achieved through image edge detection technology. The principle of image edge detection is primarily based on grayscale changes and differential operations. By filtering and performing differential operations on the image, edge and contour information can be detected. Common edge detection algorithms include the Roberts operator, the Sobel operator, the Prewitt operator, and the Canny operator. These algorithms can detect edges and contours in an image by performing operations and processing on the pixel values ​​of the image and generate a corresponding edge image.

[0160] Step 704 : Perform feature recognition on each pre-processed image through the intelligent reasoning unit to obtain multiple feature recognition images, and send the multiple feature recognition images to the first image processing unit.

[0161] In some embodiments, the intelligent inference unit may be an AI inference unit. Image AI inference refers to the process of identifying, analyzing, and processing images using artificial intelligence technology. Through deep learning and computer vision technology, image AI inference can identify and classify objects, scenes, faces, and other objects in images, and can also extract and apply information such as features, textures, and colors from the images.

[0162] In this way, the intelligent reasoning unit performs feature recognition on each pre-processed image to obtain a feature recognition image corresponding to each pre-processed image, and then sends multiple feature recognition images to the first image processing unit.

[0163] In step 705, a plurality of pre-processed images are fused by the first image processing unit to obtain a fused image, and the fused image is sent to the industrial computer so that the industrial computer analyzes and processes the fused image to obtain an analysis result, which includes a quality inspection result of the lithium battery device or a defect inspection result of the lithium battery device.

[0164] After receiving the multiple feature recognition images transmitted by the intelligent reasoning unit, the first image processing unit can perform fusion processing on the multiple feature recognition images to obtain a fused image, and send the fused image to the industrial computer.

[0165] In this way, the first image processing unit only transmits one fused image to the industrial computer, which can effectively avoid image loss during the transmission process, thereby improving the detection accuracy of lithium battery devices.

[0166] In the embodiment of the present application, on the one hand, by integrating the first image processing unit on the hub, the hub is electrically connected to the acquisition unit and sends a trigger signal, which can avoid the problem that different image processing units send trigger signals to corresponding acquisition units respectively, causing interference or loss between different trigger signals, thereby causing the number of captured images obtained by each acquisition unit to be inconsistent; on the other hand, the hub is separately connected to the industrial computer, and the hub performs fusion processing on multiple images, and sends the obtained fused image to the industrial computer, which can avoid the problem that different acquisition units are connected to the industrial computer to transmit images respectively, causing image transmission failure or loss, and can reduce the number of cable connections and reduce detection costs. It can be seen that the visual inspection system for lithium battery processes provided in the embodiment of the present application can improve the detection accuracy and detection efficiency of quality inspection or defect detection of lithium battery equipment in the lithium battery industry during visual inspection, and reduce detection costs.

[0167] It should be understood that, although the steps in the above-mentioned flowcharts are shown in sequence according to the instructions of the arrows, these steps are not necessarily performed in sequence in the order indicated by the arrows. Unless otherwise specified herein, there is no strict order restriction on the execution of these steps, and these steps can be performed in other orders. Moreover, at least a portion of the steps in the above-mentioned flowcharts may include multiple sub-steps or multiple stages, and these sub-steps or stages are not necessarily performed at the same time, but can be performed at different times, and the execution order of these sub-steps or stages is not necessarily to be performed in sequence, but can be performed in turn or alternately with other steps or at least a portion of the sub-steps or stages of other steps.

[0168] It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, if the above method is implemented in the form of a software function module and sold or used as an independent product, it can also be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application is essentially or the part that contributes to the relevant technology can be embodied in the form of a software product, and the computer software product is stored in a storage medium, including a number of instructions for enabling an electronic device to execute all or part of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media that can store program codes, such as a U disk, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk. In this way, the embodiment of the present application is not limited to any specific combination of hardware and software.

[0169] It should be understood that "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" or "some embodiments" mentioned throughout the specification means that the specific features, structures or characteristics related to the embodiment are included in at least one embodiment of the present application. Therefore, "in one embodiment" or "in an embodiment" or "in some embodiments" appearing throughout the specification do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. In addition, these specific features, structures or characteristics can be combined in one or more embodiments in any suitable manner. It should be understood that in the various embodiments of the present application, the size of the serial numbers of the above-mentioned processes does not mean the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application. The above-mentioned serial numbers of the embodiments of the present application are for description only and do not represent the advantages and disadvantages of the embodiments. The above description of the various embodiments tends to emphasize the differences between the various embodiments. The same or similar aspects can be referenced to each other. For the sake of brevity, they will not be repeated here.

[0170] The term "and / or" in this article is only a description of the association relationship between associated objects, indicating that there can be three relationships. For example, object A and / or object B can mean: object A exists alone, object A and object B exist at the same time, and object B exists alone.

[0171] It should be noted that, in this document, the terms "comprises," "includes," or any other variations thereof are intended to encompass non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus comprising a series of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not explicitly listed, or elements inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. In the absence of further limitations, an element defined by the phrase "comprising a ..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus comprising the element.

[0172] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. The embodiments described above are merely illustrative. For example, the division of the modules is merely a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods, such as: multiple modules or components can be combined, or can be integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. In addition, the coupling, direct coupling, or communication connection between the components shown or discussed can be through some interfaces, and the indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or modules can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0173] The modules described above as separate components may or may not be physically separated, and the components displayed as modules may or may not be physical modules; they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units; some or all of the modules may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of this embodiment.

[0174] In addition, all functional modules in the embodiments of the present application can be integrated into one processing unit, or each module can be a separate unit, or two or more modules can be integrated into one unit; the above-mentioned integrated modules can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of hardware plus software functional units.

[0175] Those skilled in the art will understand that all or part of the steps of implementing the above-mentioned method embodiment can be completed by hardware related to program instructions, and the aforementioned program can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. When the program is executed, it executes the steps of the above-mentioned method embodiment; and the aforementioned storage medium includes: mobile storage devices, read-only memories (ROM), magnetic disks or optical disks, and other media that can store program codes.

[0176] Alternatively, if the above-mentioned integrated unit of the present application is implemented in the form of a software functional module and sold or used as an independent product, it can also be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application, or the part that contributes to the relevant technology, can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes a number of instructions for enabling an electronic device to execute all or part of the methods described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes: various media that can store program codes, such as mobile storage devices, ROMs, magnetic disks or optical disks.

[0177] The methods disclosed in the several method embodiments provided in this application can be arbitrarily combined without conflict to obtain new method embodiments.

[0178] The features disclosed in the several product embodiments provided in this application can be arbitrarily combined without conflict to obtain new product embodiments.

[0179] The features disclosed in the several method or device embodiments provided in this application can be arbitrarily combined without conflict to obtain new method embodiments or device embodiments.

[0180] The above is merely an embodiment of the present application, but the scope of protection of the present application is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions that can be easily conceived by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in this application should be included in the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application should be based on the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. A visual inspection system for lithium battery technology, characterized in that: The system includes a hub, a first image processing unit, multiple acquisition units, and an industrial computer. The first image processing unit is integrated on the hub. The multiple acquisition units are electrically connected to the hub respectively. The hub is communicatively connected to the industrial computer, wherein: The hub is configured to send trigger signals to the plurality of acquisition units respectively through the first image processing unit; Each of the acquisition units is configured to photograph the lithium battery device in response to a received trigger signal, obtain a corresponding photographed image, and send the photographed image to the hub; The hub is configured to perform fusion processing on the plurality of captured images through the first image processing unit to obtain a fused image, and send the fused image to the industrial computer; The industrial computer is used to analyze and process the fused image to obtain an analysis result, which includes a quality inspection result of the lithium battery device or a defect inspection result of the lithium battery device.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein: The system further includes a programmable logic controller, the programmable logic controller being communicatively connected to the hub, wherein: The programmable logic controller is used to send the trigger signal to the hub, so that the hub responds to the received trigger signal and sends trigger signals to multiple acquisition units respectively through the first image processing unit.

3. The system according to claim 1, wherein: The system further includes a second image processing unit, which is integrated on the hub and connected to the first image processing unit, wherein: The second image processing unit is configured to receive the captured image sent by each acquisition unit, pre-process each captured image to obtain a plurality of pre-processed images, and send the plurality of pre-processed images to the first image processing unit; The first image processing unit is configured to perform fusion processing on the multiple pre-processed images to obtain the fused image; The preprocessing includes splicing processing, edge detection processing and / or contour extraction processing.

4. The system according to claim 3, characterized in that The system further includes an intelligent reasoning unit, which is integrated on the hub and connected to the second image processing unit and the first image processing unit, wherein: The intelligent reasoning unit is configured to receive the plurality of pre-processed images sent by the second image processing unit, perform feature recognition on each of the pre-processed images to obtain a plurality of feature recognition images, and send the plurality of feature recognition images to the first image processing unit; The first image processing unit is used to perform fusion processing on the multiple feature recognition images to obtain the fused image.

5. The system according to claim 1, wherein: The hub and the plurality of acquisition units perform data transmission via a camera data transmission CXP line, a network cable, an optical fiber line or a port.

6. The system according to claim 5, characterized in that The connection mode between the hub and the plurality of acquisition units is determined by bandwidth requirements.

7. The system according to claim 1, wherein: A communication connection is established between the hub and the industrial computer via one or two cables.

8. The system according to claim 1, wherein: The lithium battery equipment includes a lithium battery winding machine and / or a stacking machine.

9. The system according to claim 1, wherein: The acquisition unit includes an image acquisition module and an input / output module.

10. A visual inspection method for lithium battery technology, characterized in that: The method is applied to a visual inspection system for lithium battery processes. The system includes a hub, a first image processing unit, multiple acquisition units, and an industrial computer. The first image processing unit is integrated on the hub, the multiple acquisition units are electrically connected to the hub, and the hub is communicatively connected to the industrial computer. The method includes: Controlling the first image processing unit through the hub to send trigger signals to the plurality of acquisition units respectively, so that each acquisition unit photographs the lithium battery device in response to the received trigger signal, obtains a corresponding photographed image, and sends the photographed image to the hub; The hub controls the first image processing unit to fuse the multiple captured images to obtain a fused image, and the fused image is sent to the industrial computer so that the industrial computer analyzes and processes the fused image to obtain an analysis result, which includes a quality inspection result of the lithium battery device or a defect inspection result of the lithium battery device.

Images