Application Scenario

The casing of square lithium batteries is typically made of aluminum alloy, which is a critical component for protecting the cell from external forces and impacts.

In the mid-stage manufacturing of lithium battery cells, inspecting the appearance of the cell casing is crucial. Mechanical damage may occur during storage, transportation, welding, and handling, affecting the battery's performance and potentially causing severe safety issues. Therefore, strict quality control is essential.

Project Challenges

    1. Surface Defects: The cell casing surface may have defects like welding slag or protrusions, which could cause stress concentration, leading to blue film damage and safety concerns during battery operation.

    2. 2D Camera Limitations: When using a 2D camera for cell appearance inspection, it’s challenging to obtain height information for defects, making it difficult to accurately assess their severity and establish clear standards for defect identification, leading to potential overkill or missed defects.

    3. 3D Camera Constraints: While 3D cameras can provide height information, they often have slower detection speeds, making them difficult to integrate with high-speed production lines. Additionally, the high cost of 3D cameras can significantly increase the expense of the machine vision system.

I-TEK Solution: Photometric Stereo Camera

    1. Specialized Detection: I-TEK’s Photometric Stereo Camera (SL9MXGV-8C) is designed to meet the unique detection needs of mirror-like and semi-mirror-like surfaces, capturing surface topography to accurately assess defect presence, achieving near-3D detection results.

    2. High-Speed Compatibility: The camera achieves a maximum frame rate of 134.83 fps in area scan mode and 11.68 fps in photometric stereo mode, meeting the high throughput requirements of battery production environments.

    3. Cost-Effective: Compared to 3D cameras, the I-TEK Photometric Stereo Camera offers outstanding cost-effectiveness, delivering efficient and accurate inspection at a lower cost.

Application Performance

Square Lithium Battery without Blue Film 

Large Surface Dent

Small Dent 

Scratch