Audi opts for FRS Robotics quality control on car doors

FRS Robotics has introduced a new adaptive robot cell that automates the highly sensitive ultrasonic inspection of fold glue joints of Audi vehicle doors.

Vehicle door types consist of metal sheet inner and outer parts which are glued, plied and welded along the door edges. Ultrasonic inspection is performed manually to verify correct glue bonding.

Audi asked FRS Robotics to automate the highly sensitive ultrasonic quality control of the doors’ fold glue joints.

By innovating adaptive robot control software, FRS has added the required robot intelligence to continuously take ultrasonic measurements along the folded door edge.

The ‘Robotic Ultrasonic QC’ is claimed to outperform traditional automated quality control purely based on the vehicle door computer model. As a result, Audi benefits from a robot cell that is able to flexibly execute robust ultrasonic inspection on different door types.

The robot cell speeds up ultrasonic door inspection and also reduces measurement preparation time thanks to straightforward door positioning and system calibration.

Manual ultrasonic quality control lacks process efficiency and measurement robustness. A skilful and experienced operator requires dedication and concentration to properly inspect a complete door.

For this reason, robot motion driven solely on the basis of the vehicle door CAD model does not deliver sufficient local sensor positioning accuracy throughout the process. The traditional robotic programming approach is therefore unable to consistently account for the local part-to-CAD deviations of individual doors, resulting in invalid ultrasonic measurements.

The ‘Robotic Ultrasonic QC’  applies accurate adaptive sensor positioning to obtain valid measurements. It is a totally different solution that challenges traditional robotic quality control that is purely based on the vehicle door computer model.

Based on contact forces and ultrasonic measurements, FRS continuously adjusts the position and orientation of the ultrasonic sensor in real time. This automated approach guarantees robust ultrasonic quality inspection along the entire door edge.