10018384Degould BIWIS - Body-in-White Inspection SystemClosedCollaborative R&DInnovate UKCar companies across the globe spend huge sums of money to inspect vehicles at each stage of the manufacturing process. This first takes place in the Body Shop, where metal stampings are welded to form the so-called _"Body-in-White" (BIW)_. In most modern factories this is performed by robots, but the quality of the finished product is still inspected by humans. There is a business need to improve the accuracy and repeatability of this inspection process, because defects that are missed are far more costly to repair once paint is applied (ten times more expensive than if found in the Body Shop). Existing OEM customers confirm the necessity for an automated inspection solution to enhance their competitiveness and productivity. Car companies are seeking a system which delivers: * Automated inspection with no human touch * Highly accurate & repeatable identification of defects * Defect data available within 60 seconds (to match the speed of the production line ) * Full integration into the Body Shop production process * Accurate defect localisation and measurement Finding such a solution must overcome the non-specular property of the unpainted BIW, ie. the fact that light does not reflect mirror-like in a single direction. This is caused by the roughness of the metal surface, which both absorbs and diffuses light, and makes it impossible to use conventional image capturing in the visible light spectrum. Degould has run an initial proof-of-concept test using infrared radiation to inspect unfinished metal surfaces, achieving encouraging results. The proposed project aims to develop a world-first automated BIW surface quality inspection system, by utilising SWIR radiation and Blue Laser technology, the latest camera technologies and the most advanced Artificial Intelligence to analyse the images. This new BIW inspection system will accelerate the adoption of digital technology by car companies by making the process completely automated, non-contact and fully integrated into their production process - key features of the 4th Industrial Revolution movement happening across the world.