An artificial vision solution for reusing discarded parts resulted after a manufacturing process

Abstract

The profit of a factory can be improved by reusing the discarded components produced. This paper is based on the case of a manufacturing process where rectangular metallic sheets of different sizes are produced. Using an artificial vision system, the shapes and the sizes of the produced parts can be determined. Those sheets which do not respect the requirements imposed are labeled as discarded. Instead of throwing these parts, a decision algorithm can analyze if another metallic sheet with smaller dimensions can be obtained from these. Two methods of decision are presented in this paper, considering the restriction that the sides of the new sheet has to be parallel with the axis of the coordinate system. The coordinates of each new part obtained from a discarded sheet are computed in order to be delivered to a milling machine. Details about implementing these algorithms (image processing and decision respectively) in the MATLAB environment using Image Processing Toolbox are given.