PTC, one of the world's leading specialists in digital transformation, has added a Step component to its Vuforia augmented reality platform, designed to facilitate and enhance visual inspection as part of quality control.
Visual inspection is one of the key stages in the production process. During this stage, operators determine whether a part, component or even a complete product is manufactured or assembled according to specifications, and whether it functions correctly. Very often, these inspections are carried out by eye and with the aid of paper documents, which puts a lot of pressure on teams when it comes to making decisions quickly, and contributes to increasing the risk of errors and rework.
Step Check increases the quality of inspections and reduces the risk of errors by combining augmented reality and artificial intelligence (AI). Step Check guides operators through their inspection tasks using augmented reality work instructions. These detailed step-by-step, context-specific instructions are superimposed on the part or physical product being inspected. During testing, the AI embedded in the solution can detect non-conforming assemblies, missing or misaligned parts, or any other related defects. Color-coded graphical elements are displayed in real time on the part or product to inform operators of the success or failure of the current inspection step. Step Check also automatically documents inspection results and provides dashboards to enable analysis of the checks carried out.
Step Check's AI model is trained on two types of data. Firstly, it uses data linked to 3D CAD models of the parts, components or products to be inspected. Secondly, operators train the model directly using examples of successful or failed quality checks. As Step Check is used, the AI models learn from the decisions made by the operators and improve over time. Vuforia's computer vision capabilities enable Step Check to recognize elements not included in 3D CAD models, such as stickers or product-specific labels. Step Check is part of Vuforia's Expert Capture, PTC's SaaS-based augmented reality solution that provides a collaborative, learning environment to capture expert knowledge in the workplace and generate AI-enhanced visual inspections for sharing.