Inspector Robot – A New Collaborative Testing System Designed for the Automotive Final Assembly Line

The ‘water leak test’ in an automotive final assembly line is often a significant cost factor due to its labour intensive nature. This is particularly the case for premium car manufacturers as each vehicle is watered and manually inspected for leakage. This paper delivers an approach that optimises the efficiency and capability of the test process by using a new automated in-line inspection system whereby thermographic images are taken by a lightweight robot system and then processed to locate the leak. Such optimisation allows the collaboration of robots and manual labour which in turn enhances the capability of the process station.