ZEISS installs new shopfloor measuring solution for complete car body inspection in North America

MAPLE GROVE, Minn., Sept. 21, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- ZEISS Industrial Quality Solutions will install ZEISS AICell trace at a premier electric vehicle manufacturer in North America in 2020. The correlation-free measuring cell is the most accurate, shopfloor car body robotic process and quality control system on the market. It achieves ISO 10360-8 stated accuracies while operating in extreme environments and offers the industry's widest temperature operating range.

The dual, 7-axis robotic system was designed to measure 400 dimensional features faster than any other system in its class. It can also measure 60 critical features in typical automotive cycle times with accuracies comparable to a CMM. ZEISS AICell trace can also be utilized in near-line, at-line or in-line applications.

"With this system and the ZEISS absolute in-line quality strategy, our customers will build better vehicles and understand and control their processes from the first production part to the last," says Keith Gudeman, Director of Automotive Systems at ZEISS Industrial Quality Solutions. "The highly modular ZEISS AICell trace system can accommodate the most demanding production cycle times and quality initiatives."

ZEISS AICell trace is an absolute system. It requires no correlation offset, which allows it to provide CMM quality results in-line on every manufactured part. The system can accommodate all hang-on and body-in-white parts when operating in by-pass mode. The full turnkey system includes:

• ZEISS AIMax cloud optical 3D sensor
• ZEISS AICell trace precision robot tracking system
• ZEISS CARFIT smart fixtures
• Turnkey support from the ZEISS engineering team

"ZEISS AICell trace brings the benefit of quality room measurement capabilities right to the production line, with its ability to operate in a typical manufacturing environment reliably for every part manufactured," explains Robert Wasilesky, Automation Specialist at ZEISS Industrial Quality Solutions. "No system correlation offsets are required. There is no more removing parts from the production line and waiting for process and quality control." 

The ZEISS AICell installation required close collaboration between the premier automotive manufacturer, ZEISS CMM experts and the ZEISS robot automation team. The result was a high-speed robotic system delivered to the customer that met their stringent requirements. According to Wasilesky, "With an in-line system performing like a CMM, quality and process decisions are made instantly, at the line. The hours and sometimes days it took for the previous quality loop decisions can now be avoided."

The system utilizes the high speed AIMax cloud sensor and ZEISS AICell trace robot tracking technology to accurately dimension the most critical features like hemmed edges, studs, rivets and nuts behind metal. The system tracks the robot position in microns and measures dimensions in less than one second per feature.

The ZEISS CARFIT smart fixtures with embedded identification and tracking technology automatically identify which part is in the cell to be measured. The fixture system instantly brings the part into the car body coordinate system. No other system provides this level of ease and accuracy.

To schedule a demonstration contact ZEISS at: Demonstration

For more information on ZEISS AICell trace technology visit: AICell trace

About ZEISS

ZEISS is an internationally leading technology enterprise operating in the fields of optics and optoelectronics. In the previous fiscal year, the ZEISS Group generated annual revenue totaling more than 6.4 billion euros in its four segments Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology, Industrial Quality & Research, Medical Technology and Consumer Markets (status: 30 September 2019).

For its customers, ZEISS develops, produces and distributes highly innovative solutions for industrial metrology and quality assurance, microscopy solutions for the life sciences and materials research, and medical technology solutions for diagnostics and treatment in ophthalmology and microsurgery. The name ZEISS is also synonymous with the world's leading lithography optics, which are used by the chip industry to manufacture semiconductor components. There is global demand for trendsetting ZEISS brand products such as eyeglass lenses, camera lenses and binoculars.

With a portfolio aligned with future growth areas like digitalization, healthcare and Smart Production and a strong brand, ZEISS is shaping the future of technology and constantly advancing the world of optics and related fields with its solutions. The company's significant, sustainable investments in research and development lay the foundation for the success and continued expansion of ZEISS' technology and market leadership.

With over 31,000 employees, ZEISS is active globally in almost 50 countries with around 60 sales and service companies, 30 production sites and 25 development sites. Founded in 1846 in Jena, the company is headquartered in Oberkochen, Germany. The Carl Zeiss Foundation, one of the largest foundations in Germany committed to the promotion of science, is the sole owner of the holding company, Carl Zeiss AG.

Further information at www.zeiss.com

ZEISS Industrial Quality Solutions

ZEISS Industrial Quality Solutions is a leading manufacturer of multidimensional metrology solutions. These include coordinate measuring machines, optical and multisensor systems, microscopy systems for industrial quality assurance as well as metrology software for the automotive, aircraft, mechanical engineering, plastics and medical technology industries. Innovative technologies such as 3D X-ray metrology for quality inspection round off the portfolio. In addition, ZEISS Industrial Quality Solutions offers a broad global spectrum of customer services with ZEISS Quality Excellence Centers close to its customers. The company is headquartered in Oberkochen. Production and development sites outside Germany are located in Minneapolis in the USA, Shanghai, China and Bangalore, India. ZEISS Industrial Quality Solutions is part of the Industrial Quality & Research segment.

SOURCE Carl Zeiss Industrial Metrology, LLC

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