Advanced Multivariate Imaging Technology for the Rubber Industry

In the past decade, industrial machine vision solutions have become popular for automatic inspection and quality control in many industries.  As rubber manufactures embrace automation, the benefits of imaging solutions are becoming apparent.   Multivariate image analysis is advanced technology that facilitates the extraction of key product quality features from both color and multi-spectral images. Using this technology, real-time detection of product quality based on color, thermal or chemical properties is possible.

This presentation will provide a brief conceptual introduction on the multivariate image analysis techniques and will be highlighted with applicable industrial examples. The presentation will also feature BaleGuard, a novel multivariate-analysis based machine vision quality control solution for the rubber industry. This 6-camera rubber bale surface inspection system automatically detects defects as small as 1mm² and diverts off-spec bales. Also discussed will be the ability to use the outputs from BaleGuard and other such inspection systems to tune process settings to lower off-spec rates. Other imaging solutions for the rubber industry will also be presented.