Exceptional Precision at Control 2024

Quality assurance, state-of-the-art testing processes, image recognition, and processing – the topics that are currently trending for Control 2024 are also part of #memberofscio MRB Automation’s thought process when it comes to developing and producing custom high-precision systems for automated adjustment, measurement & testing, and calibration. In addition, when MRB presents its portfolio in Stuttgart from April 23 to 26, 2024, the team will be showcasing a specialized system that they developed for adjusting BiLED headlights in a record cycle time of only 20 seconds.

Keep reading to learn more about this high-precision project today:

Adjusting car headlights in a record cycle time of only 20 seconds?

“We have almost 10 years of expertise in providing precision systems for adjusting LED headlights, and we’re now working on an extremely interesting project. An international manufacturer of car headlights approached us for a system that’s supposed to adjust two polycarbonate optics simultaneously to an LED PCB in a record cycle time of only 20 seconds," said Hartmut Keune, Managing Director of MRB Automation, when he was asked about his team being assigned the project. 

Implementation

In adjustment systems developed by MRB, parts are typically adjusted relative to each other using hexapods with a positional accuracy of far less than a micrometer. However, this wasn’t feasible due to the need to simultaneously adjust two optics for this project. As a result, the MRB team had to use two robots for this task, adjusting one optic to the PCB in each case.

The robot positions are measured during the process by 12 cameras in total, and actively corrected to the nearest micrometer to achieve the required adjustment accuracies. The complex measurement procedure for the optics and the LED structure is carried out using a combination of tactile, optical, and confocal sensors, while the optics are fixed to the PCB with UV adhesive.

“We built the adjustment system on a massive vibration-damped granite block to efficiently utilize the dynamics of the robots and achieve the required cycle times," said Keune.

The system is built into a complex production line and is capable of adjusting more than 50 different headlight variants without any changeover processes. The software package includes extensive diagnostic functions, functions for automatically calibrating all measurement equipment that’s been used, and an automatic mode for verifying the system’s measurement capability. These function packages, which are used by MRB as standard, significantly shorten commissioning times and have, amongst other things, led to one of the six complex systems delivered so far being commissioned remotely in China.

Did you know?

In recent years, MRB has developed adjustment systems for five generations of LED headlights and delivered them to various headlight manufacturers. The latest generation includes adjustment systems for Digital Light SSL/HD headlights with up to 30,000 pixels, where adjustment carried out using Active Alignment.

Discover in the video with our Sales Manager, Javier, more about the range of services offered by MRB:

Visit the MRB Automation booth in Hall 8, Booth 8218 at the Control trade fair 2024 in Stuttgart to learn more about our customized solutions and how you can optimize your production processes using our high-precision systems. We’d love to give you some personalized advice in-person. You can also contact us in advance and schedule an appointment via our contact form. We look forward to seeing you there!