Radiation Imaging System for Uncertain Item Pose Inspection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing automated inspection systems for small, safety-critical components face inefficiencies due to the need for individual item inspections, which are time-consuming and resource-intensive, especially when items have uncertain poses, leading to increased acquisition and processing times.
Innovation Solution
A method and system for dynamically estimating the pose of multiple items with uncertain orientations using radiation imaging, iteratively refining the pose estimation until the desired accuracy is achieved, allowing for near real-time, projection-based inspection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If individual item inspections are performed to ensure accurate pose verification, then measurement precision is improved, but productivity deteriorates due to time-consuming sequential processing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple item inspections into a single batch processing operation. Multiple items are positioned on a holder and inspected simultaneously using a single radiation imaging sequence, eliminating the need for sequential individual inspections while maintaining pose estimation accuracy through collective analysis of all items in the batch.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary pose estimation on multiple items simultaneously before detailed inspection. By estimating poses for all items in advance using initial imaging data, the system can optimize the inspection sequence and reduce total processing time while ensuring accurate pose verification for each item.
2Measurement precision
If the number of X-ray projections is increased to improve defect detection accuracy, then measurement precision is improved, but loss of time increases due to longer acquisition and processing times
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs pose estimation and defect inspection using a limited number of projections rather than complete 360-degree scanning. By acquiring projections only over a limited angular range sufficient for pose determination and defect detection, the system achieves acceptable accuracy with significantly reduced acquisition and processing time.
Solution Approach 2:
The inspection system focuses computational resources and imaging efforts on critical regions of items where defects are most likely to occur. By applying targeted analysis to specific regions of interest rather than uniformly processing entire items, the system maintains high defect detection accuracy while reducing overall processing requirements.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables fast and accurate inspection of multiple items simultaneously, reducing the number of required X-ray projections and processing time, suitable for in-line quality control applications like defect detection or metrology.
Implementation Method 1
radiation imaging system for inspection of items
Implementation Method 2
detector configured for acquiring a projection image as image data
Data Source
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AI summary
The present disclosure relates to the field of radiation imaging for testing and/or quality assurance of items in a wide range of industrial applications. Specifically, in the present disclosure a method and system are described by which the item inspection accuracy and efficiency using radiation imaging technology can be improved.