The manufacturing of plastic foams is a two-day long process from the moment of the initial pour of the component substances in the mold until the foam block is obtained in its final shape. There are some verifiable parameters which can guarantee the product´s quality and the specific customer requirements, such as firmness, permeability or number of pores. However, these are only obtained at the end of the foaming process and can only be foreseen by an expert´s intuition.
Therefore, it is important to be able to predict the final result from the first stage of the process as well as to be able to immediately modify, if necessary, the production variables and introduce corrections.
Tecnalia´s Computer Vision Group, in collaboration with IPF Engineering, has developed for ICOA foam manufacturer a machine vision system installed in the first stage of the foam process. This system calculates the parameters that the foam will have at the end of the cure process. This value will tell the foam production supervisor what action must be taken in accordance to the system and will permit the detection of deviations in the process that would otherwise not be detected until the end of the cure process, thus entailing costs to the manufacturer.
