1.3 MP USB 2.0 Camera from Lumenera is implemented in new tyre-testing machine to provide precise image results in real-time that are easily interpreted by a technician.
Testing a tyre through the conventional standard using shearography – a technique developed more than 25 years ago – could take up to 20 minutes and cost as much as $10 per tyre. Additionally, shearography produced confusing, hard-to-interpret results because all tyre anomalies (when the layers or plies of a tire separate) appeared as laterally displaced images and could not be deciphered.
After years of development and several million dollars in expense, an US machinery manufacturer produced a non-destructive digital tyre-testing machine capable of safely and efficiently testing tyres at high volumes and speeds. They have improved use of optics, light and reflection. It’s required an imaging component capable of rapid motion imaging and easy-to-interpret, precise pictures. For this challenging implementation Lumenera’s Lu105M USB 2.0 camera with a 1.3 MP CCD sensor was chosen.
This camera was able to meet all of the following needs:
- Significantly reduce testing time: Using the latest technology available, including Lumenera’s high quality and performance cameras, cut testing time down from 20 minutes to 60 or 70 seconds.
- Dramatically reduce costs: testing cost are down to less than 50 cents compared to the $10/tyre in past.
- Easily interpreted results: Through the use of proprietary algorithms, installing 4 cameras instead of just one, and 16 laser diodes instead of a single light source, test results are easily understood by a technician.
- Meet tight system space constraints: Lumenera’s small form-factor allows for 4 cameras to fit inside a tyre. Thanks to carefully designed optics, each camera is capable of capturing precise images of the inside of one tire quadrant, although the cameras are only the size of a deck of cards.
- High quality images for precise analysis: Through Lumenera’s high quality images, the tyre-testing machine is able to display results and single out any anomalies, specifically where the anomaly actually lies, as well as its size and intensity. The differences between images are processed by algorithms into an easy-to-comprehend output, and allows for the automated rejection of defective tires.
- Real-time results: With the improved use of optics, light and reflection, this machine utilizes a digital CCD camera where results are provided in “real-time”.