Quality inspection systems currently available on the market are based on measurement techniques that rely on principles founded on individual technologies, such as laser scanning or other techniques that take advantage of collimated light projection methods, coupled with image acquisition techniques. 

The innovative aspect of the VisionPlus device is to be able to simultaneously make precise measurements of the diameter of wires, present, for example, as enameled copper wires for motors and transformers or as synthetic multi-filaments for technical textiles or optical fibers, detect defects at micrometer levels, and acquire high-definition images.

"The project was particularly ambitious in two respects: one related to the pandemic period, in which the availability of electronic components and raw materials was extremely limited and limiting, and the other to the ambitions and goals of the work," comments project leader and Director of the Institute of Systems and Applied Electronics (ISEA), Prof. Daniele Allegri.

Indeed, the project required the realization of circuits so sensitive that they are limited only by the electronic noise produced by the photons captured by the sensors; optical systems suitable for measuring defects and diameters with micrometric precision; digital processing and acquisition systems suitable for real-time processing of a large amount of data generated by the sensors; and mechanical, optical and electronic solutions so compact that they can be housed in smaller structures than any other solution on the market.

VisionPlus makes it possible to guarantee high quality to the filaments produced, reducing manufacturing costs and enabling production lines to analyze filaments with diameters in the range of 0.010 mm to 5,000 mm at speeds of up to 3000 m/min with 1% accuracy for all diameters above 0.200 mm and close to 1 μm for all others.