MEASUREMENT & MONITORING
WHAT IS PLUG & INSPECT ™ ?
INSPEKTO
THE TECHNOLOGY THAT PROMISES TO MAKE
SYSTEMS INTEGRATORS OBSOLETE
Traditionally, machine vision solutions
are developed and installed by a systems
integrator, a professional who researches
the specific Quality Assurance (QA) needs
of a production line and designs a tailored
solution. This process is expensive and time-
consuming, but the advent of Autonomous
Machine Vision is revolutionising the
scene, making huge investments and long
downtime a thing of the past. Here Yonatan
Hyatt, CTO of Autonomous Machine Vision
expert Inspekto, introduces the technology
that makes it possible.
In the cinematic classic Modern Times Charlie
Chaplin interprets Charlot, a distressed
factory worker whose only task is tightening
bolts at an ever-increasing pace on an
assembly line. Driven insane by this tedious
and alienating job, he is eventually sent to
a hospital to recover from a serious nervous
breakdown.
Machine vision solutions were initially
developed to liberate QA managers from
the most Chaplin-like aspects of their jobs,
monotonous and repetitive tasks that did
not actively add value to the production
line. Unfortunately, these traditional
machine vision solutions come with many
disadvantages: they have to be designed
and installed by an external integrator, are
expensive, and take a long time to create.
Luckily, Autonomous Machine Vision (AMV)
offers a revolutionary approach to QA,
allowing manufacturers to have access to
less expensive and user-friendly technology
that does not require the intervention of any
external expert.
THE NEW ALTERNATIVE
The technology that makes it possible
is Plug & Inspect™, which has been
developed by Inspekto, a German industrial
company with Israeli DNA. It combines
computer vision, deep learning and real-
time software optimization technologies
for a ground-breaking QA experience.
Its operating principle is simple: given
a sample of good products—20 to 30,
depending on their complexity—the
system will learn the characteristics of a
perfect item and signal any abnormality.
The system takes into consideration
different positioning of the item, light
changes and other environmental
variables and is able to discern between
them and actual defects. Furthermore,
the system keeps learning and improving
itself: if it flags a product as defective but
an operator deems it as good, the same
variation will not be considered again in
the future.
Unlike traditional machine vision solutions,
Plug & Inspect™ powered systems don’t
need to learn how to recognize a faulty
part. This is usually a time-consuming
process that requires a certain number of
items with various abnormalities, which
the manufacturer may not have. On the
contrary, Plug & Inspect™ learns based on
good products.
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SIMPLER, INEXPENSIVE, FASTER
Plug & Inspect™ can be installed in 30 to 45
minutes, more than 1000 times faster than
traditional machine vision solutions, whose
design and installation usually takes from
six weeks to a year. Moreover, any employer
on the plant can easily set up and run the
system independently, without the help of
any external expert.
The technology is self-handling and self-
adapting, meaning that the manager can
decide to move it to other areas of the
production line at any time, and thanks to
its deep learning capabilities the system
will adjust to suit the QA requirements of
that particular junction. To top it off, the
production line can keep running during set
up, installation and change-over, eliminating
the problem of downtime completely.
In Modern Times, Charlot prefers jail to his
repetitive tasks at the factory, but thanks to
this new technology, the tedious aspects
of visual manual QA are indeed a thing of
the past. Plug & Inspect™ combines ground
breaking technology with the most user-
friendly interface, to make QA managers love
their jobs.
www.inspekto.com