Automatic visual inspection system for quality control of the sandwich panel and detecting the dipping and buckling of the surfaces

In this paper, an automated inspection system is proposed for detecting the location and measuring the size of existing dipping or buckling on the sandwich panel surface using an RGB camera and an inexpensive linear laser. The proposed method, by observing the radiated laser beams on the sandwich panel surface, can localize and calculate the level of dipping and buckling with acceptable accuracy while being robust to vibrations of moving sandwich panel on the production line conveyor. After a complete processing of the panel by the system, a three-dimensional (surface plot) or two-dimensional (heat map) output is produced to assist the production line supervisor to easily inspect the surface quality of the sandwich panels. Our experimental results show that the proposed system can detect and measure the surface defects including dipping and buckling with a high accuracy and performance.