Control equipment for the manufacture of automotive headlights

Automotive headlight production testers for comprehensive testing of headlights and rear lights of cars – checking the functionality of individual light functions and their parameters. It also serves as a control during the assembly of individual parts of the headlight. In addition to the aforementioned control of presence, types, or positions of parts, the flawless execution of assembly is also checked.

Among the optional parameters of the system and possible controls are:

Presence and Quality Tests

• Choice of light source from traditional (bulb) to modern light sources (xenon arc lamp, LED, laser)
• Assembly control of modules and headlights (parts presence check)
• Checking the presence of external (hard coat) and internal (anti-fog) paint on the headlight cover glass
• Measuring electrical parameters of headlights

Communication

• Communication with external PLC systems
• Communication with external input and output peripherals, current sources, motors
• Communication with headlights via CAN and LIN buses
• Communication with modules for car simulation – HSX, Vector, DAP

Optical and Camera Tests

• Checking AFS functions (headlight steering into curves)
• Checking mechanical LWR functions (headlight height adjustment)
• Checking the ignition of xenon arc lamps (burn-in test)
• Checking homogeneity and color in XY coordinates
• Detection of defective LEDs (change in color and brightness)
• Checking the swipe function (progressive lighting) of blinkers with a high-speed camera
• Checking the matrix function (limiting glare to the driver of an oncoming vehicle)
• Lighting modules of headlights using their own current sources

Optical-Mechanical Tests

• Positional adjustment and checking the lighting position of the car's main headlights
• Adjustment and checking the lighting of individual headlight functions
• Adjustment and checking the color of the headlight projector interfaces
• Checking the snapping of headlight cable connectors using cameras
• Checking the cleanliness of the headlight module lens using artificial intelligence and deep learning methods
• Adjusting primary optics

All performed optical checks fully correspond to the relevant standards, whether European Union or other international norms. The main advantage of our system, as considered by the customer, is its easy adjustability, which is fully open to the end user (operator or technologist) from the user interface of the application. The end customer is thus able to create new configurations, adjust test parameters, or make routine limit changes without the presence of ATEsystem s.r.o. programmers.

The majority of the machines we supply for setting and controlling parts are built on the ATEster software platform, a modular platform for machine vision based on the LabVIEW programming environment. The main goal of the platform's developers is its easy, fast, and also customizable deployment for machine vision tasks in various industrial sectors. Its purpose is to provide the end customer with clear information about camera control, the ability to adjust or parameterize individual tests, and the capacity to integrate with existing industrial technologies.

The application itself offers in its basic form possibilities such as:

• Communication with cameras from multiple manufacturers
• Easy and quick setting of the manufactured product + possibility of introducing new products
• Setting parameters of tests performed
• User management
• Storing images and production data

Among other features of the application are:

• Control of mechanical or pneumatic actuators and motors
• The possibility of connection to internal company databases (e.g., MES) or PLC controllers, thus functioning in intelligent sensor mode
• Creating reports or connecting to the Ministat product (complete database server for processing and visualizing data)
• The possibility of connecting to artificial intelligence methods