Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS
Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS

Automated Radioscopy

© Fraunhofer IIS

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Optimizing product quality is the most important goal for any industrial components manufacturer. For this reason, in-line inspections are essential in order to minimize rejects, thus reducing costs and the amount of rework required. The ISAR X-ray inspection system, which represents the latest technology in the area of fully-automated X-ray imaging analysis, is a central component in the in-line inspection of various types of components.

When conducting radioscopy an X-ray source is emitting X-radiation. This radiation is capable of penetrating objects. Depending on material and wall thickness of the specimen the radiation is attenuated. A detector mounted on the opposite side is generating a shadow image of the specimen from the remaining radiation. The various shades of gray of these shadow images are representing the differences in wall thicknesses of the specimen. Defects, e.g. an air inclusion, are showing a lower absorption and are thus visible as bright spots.

When applying fully-automated radioscopy the specimens are positioned by a handling system and the images are generated automatically. These images are subsequently evaluated by an automatic defect recognition (ADR) software. Detected defects are evaluated according to defined criteria. Depending on the results of the evaluation, the specimens are automatically discharged or passed on for further processing.

System solution ISAR

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ISAR features adaptive image processing algorithms enabling inspections for the most diverse applications. ISAR combines two approaches for automatic defect recognition (ADR):

  • Highly-accurate, reference-based analyses for use with precise manipulation systems
  • Easily configurable reference-free analyses for use in standard applications

ISAR boasts a series of modules that allow it to be optimally adapted to the inspection task and the existing infrastructure. The primary goal is the seamless integration of the inspection system in the entire production process. Specially-processed test results are sent to the production system in real time, which enables the tracking of trends and the continuous optimization of product quality with the aim of minimizing rejects. Easy integration with all existing data acquisition systems is a standard feature of ISAR.

Automatic X-ray inspection of:

  • Light alloy wheels
  • Vehicle chassis parts made from cast aluminum
  • Welding seams
  • Plastics

  • Highly-accurate, reference-based analyses for use with precise manipulation systems
  • Easily configurable reference-free analyses for use in standard applications
  • Area and depth-extension measurements in the beam direction
  • State-of-the-art classification algorithms for differentiating between cast and pseudo defects 


Advantages and customer value

  • Simple parameterization without interrupting the automatic operation of the system
  • Direct feedback loop of the test results for production
  • Statistical analysis of the test results and interface to data acquisition systems
  • Can be integrated into existing systems