Spot Welding Inspection Robots Spark a Revolution in the Automotive Industry 
SINGAPORE, Jan. 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Strength tests on samples taken from 
parts consisting of 4,000-5,000 spot welds on a vehicle are an indispensable 
part of the automobile manufacturing process, which is costly and time and 
labour-intensive. Find out how Toshiba's recent development of a system allows 
testing to be carried out automatically by robots in a non-destructive manner, 
and is poised to spark a massive revolution in manufacturing in the automotive 
industry.

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The Move Towards Smart, Automated and Non-Destructive Inspection

As cars become lighter and stronger in recent years, high-strength steel sheets 
known as 'high-tension materials' are increasingly being used. The properties 
of these high-tension materials make it hard for chisels to be inserted and 
returned to normal once they are deformed. The welded spots are often destroyed 
in the course of inspection.

Tapping on technology for medical use and power generation plants, Toshiba 
developed an ultrasonic testing device known as Matrixeye™, the world's first 
3D SAFT (Synthetic Aperture Focusing technique) inspection equipment with 
phased array function. Matrixeye™ allows welds to be inspected 
non-destructively and inspection to be performed automatically by robots.

The challenge in non-destructive inspection technology was creating structures 
for automating spot welding inspections through robot control. The tilt 
estimation engine is a new technology that automatically adjusts the 
measurement angle of the inspection probe. Based on the ultrasound reflection 
data measured by the Matrixeye™, it estimates the tilt of the welded part and 
then a robot automatically corrects the angle of the inspection probe. Through 
this, inspection time is shrunk from 30-40 seconds for human beings to 
approximately 7 seconds. 

As the concept of Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) develops in the future, the 
number of public vehicles will most likely increase as well. To support this 
coming era, factories will be expected to put structures in place to enable 
them to provide high-quality vehicles in a speedy fashion. Toshiba is carrying 
out verification tests with a goal of launching this spot welding inspection 
technology within a year, and for the technology to be adopted in other fields 
of manufacturing too.

SOURCE  Toshiba Corporation