THE FIRST STEP IN THE REFURBISHING OF AUTOMOTIVE BRAKE SHOES IS SORTING. THE PARTS THAT ARRIVE FROM VARIOUS SHOPS ARE DIRTY, RUSTY, OFTEN DAMAGED, AND ARE RANDOMLY MIXED. SORTING IS PERFORMED MANUALLY BY TRAINED PERSONNEL WHO RECOGNIZE THE MODEL NUMBER, INSPECT THE SHOES, AND STACK THEM ACCORDING TO THEIR DESIGNATION. A LARGE PLANT MAY RELINE SEVERAL THOUSAND SHOES PER SHIFT AND COSTLY ERRORS OFTEN OCCUR DUE TO OPERATOR FATIGUE OR LACK OF TRAINING. THE INSTALLATION DESCRIBED IN THIS PAPER USES MACHINE VISION AT THE HEART OF THE SYSTEM. THE USED BRAKE SHOES ARE LOADED ONTO A CONVEYOR WHICH TRANSPORTS THEM THROUGH A WIDTH MEASURING DEVICE AND A MACHINE VISION CONTOUR DETECTION STATION. THE BACK-LIGHTED PARTS ARE ANALYZED BY A SPECIAL PURPOSE SOFTWARE THAT EXTRACTS ONLY THE SIGNIFICANT CHARACTERISTICS FROM THE IMAGE. THE LATTER, COMBINED WITH THE PREVIOUSLY OBTAINED WIDTH LEADS TO THE DETE
| Number of Pages : | 11 |
| Published : | 06/01/1990 |
