Case Study | Six Advantages of INSNEX Macro Vision for Lithium Battery Electrode Inspection in Cutting and Stacking

01 Introduction

In the integrated lithium battery cutting and stacking process, the accuracy and stability of electrode sheet defect detection directly determine the safety and yield of the battery cells. However, the internal space of the cutting equipment is extremely limited, and traditional inspection solutions face multiple challenges in terms of installation space, imaging quality, software algorithms, etc. For the cutting and stacking machine scenario, INSNEX launches a macro detection system solution, which uses six technical advantages to help customers achieve spatial intensification, imaging standardization and algorithm intelligent upgrade of the detection system.

02 Customer Pain Points and Challenges

1. The visual inspection unit occupies a large amount of equipment space

New equipment needs to specially plan space for the visual inspection unit; old machines have limited space for renovation, which is difficult to renovation, and has a long shutdown and renovation period. In addition, it is difficult to unify the visual solutions of old and new equipment, increasing maintenance costs.

2. Poor imaging uniformity

Image light and dark changes are affected by many factors, including large waves on the edge of the electrode sheet, raised corners of the electrode sheet, uneven electrode sheet supporting surfaces, and dark corners on the edge of the line scan lens, resulting in unstable image quality.

3. Software edge finding error

The phenomenon of powder dropping interferes with image edge recognition; the gray scale of the electrode sheet is close to the gray scale of the transport belt, resulting in frequent edge detection errors.

03 Solutions

INSNEX macro detection system provides six technical breakthroughs to address the above pain points:

1. Small installation space

The space occupancy rate of the macro camera system has been reduced by more than 80 %, helping customers to miniaturize their equipment.

Traditional line scanning solution: The working distance of the camera needs to be greater than 400mm, and the installation space needs to be greater than 700mm; multiple rollers (5-10) need to be added to draw out the material strip for inspection;

INSNEX macro camera solution: The camera working distance only requires 15mm, and the total installation space of Z is only required 130mm in total.

2. Camera lens light source All-in-One integrated design

The hardware standardization of macro camera systems is much higher than that of line scan camera systems, helping customers achieve: standardizing and simplifying mechanical design, saving more than half of the design and communication confirmation time and costs; integrated design, making it easy for both new and old equipment. Maintenance.

3. High imaging uniformity

The macro camera system is more compatible with materials, has good image consistency and high material compatibility.

Dark corners: The line-scan camera system has the problem of bright middle and dark sides; the macro camera system has no dark corners, and the brightness in the middle and both sides is the same;

Distortion: The line-scan camera system has radial distortion and centrifugal distortion; the macro camera system has no distortion and adopts 1: 1 telecentric imaging;

Edge image: Line scan camera system has clear middle and blurred sides; macro camera system has no edge distortion and clear full field of view

4. Excellent basic algorithm capabilities

The macro camera system reduces false rejection caused by edge detection errors by more than 95%:

In response to the problem of high error rate in traditional solutions (electrode sheet powder particles contact the edge, causing misjudgment), INSNEX launched the LineMax intelligent edge finding tool:

External points that do not match the expected line segment are discarded through the distance of edge points and the angle of gradient vectors; compared with the FindLine common edge detection tool, it is more robust and can effectively avoid the interference of noise on the line segment fitting results.

5. AI algorithm has excellent capabilities and can be independently and continuously iterated.

The macro camera system has a defect sample database: tens of thousands of NG pictures are composed, which supports the accuracy of software detection;

The macro camera system has self-developed deep learning software: efficiently complete AI sample iteration, reasoning and other work;

Can be achieved: customers can iterate independently: new defects can be independently trained and iterated; AI annotation training software is simple and easy to use: developed for operators and users, with low learning and use barriers.

6. Convenient test result retrieval and statistics

Inspection Data Browser: Quickly locate and view inspection results, and realize linkage display of defect images, data, location and other information;

Customer value: Test results, data viewing, and statistics are intuitive and convenient.

04 Customer Benefit

After introducing the INSNEX macro detection system, customers have achieved the following improvements in the cutting and stacking machine:

1. Space usage reduced by more than 80 %

Macro camera working distance only 15mm, Z to the installation space only 130mm, no extra roller belt, greatly reducing the difficulty of equipment transformation.

2. Save more than half of mechanical design time and costs

The integrated design of All-in-One improves the degree of hardware standardization and reduces the time and cost of design and communication confirmation by more than 50 %.

3. Image consistency and material compatibility have been significantly improved

There is no dark corner, no distortion, no edge distortion, and good compatibility with slight undulations, waves, and warped edges of the electrode sheets.

4. The false rejection rate of edge detection errors is reduced by more than 95 %

LineMax intelligent edge finding tool effectively eliminates dust particle interference and significantly reduces misjudgment.

5.AI algorithm can be iterated independently

Customers can independently train new defect models based on tens of thousands of defect sample libraries, with low operating thresholds.

6. Test result retrieval statistics are intuitive and convenient

The inspection data browser supports the linkage display of defect images, data, and locations for quick positioning and quality analysis.

05 Customer Reviews

"The internal space of the cut-and-stack machine is already very tight, and traditional solutions cannot be crammed in at all. INSNEX's macro cameras are small in size and flexible to install, and can be launched without major changes to the equipment structure. In actual operation, the false rejection rate of edge detection has dropped significantly, and we can train new defective models ourselves without having to go to the original factory every time, which is very convenient."

--Person in charge of the cutting and stacking process of a lithium battery head company

About Us

INSNEX has long been focusing on technology and product innovation in the field of industrial "visual defect detection".

With rich scene cases and experience, we continue to launch advanced imaging products that "make defects clearer", including LineX macro line scan camera, RealSurface 2.5D imaging system, InScope series AI smart cameras, etc., helping industry users easily cope with various imaging challenges.

In addition, the core software product InsWorks series integrates multiple algorithms and tools such as 2D/3D/ACI/AI, providing strong platform support for the development of complex inspection systems and making defect detection easier and more stable.

INSNEX's current products have been widely used in many industrial quality inspection scenarios such as lithium batteries, panels, semiconductors, photovoltaics, consumer electronics, 3D printing.

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