The grinding of engine parts at the Subaru Corporation plant is now controlled by artificial intelligence (AI), thus improving the quality of components and virtually eliminating deviations from the standard. Subaru developed AI technology and algorithms together with Fujitsu Limited, one of the largest Japanese electronics manufacturers.
The system, dubbed Fujitsu Colmina On-Site Quality AI, has been implemented in the engine shop of the Subaru Oizumi Plant and is used in the manufacture of camshafts. Artificial intelligence checks the geometry of the parts and the grinding of the shafts in real time during their machining. The mass application of the technology began in January 2022, but its testing has been carried out since August 2020.
Until now, quality control of parts was carried out selectively (several pieces from each batch), Colmina On-Site Quality AI allows you to check the manufacture of each instance of the camshaft and reject low-quality ones. Components are evaluated by the robot for geometry, shape and roughness.
To assess the quality of the camshafts, measurements from various sensors during the grinding stage are taken into account. In particular, the power supplied to the electric motor responsible for rotation and the vibration of the camshaft are taken into account. The collected data set for each individual instance is evaluated based on the AI model. At the output, the system says whether the quality of the part meets the specified standard.
Also, AI predicts with high accuracy the quality of processing of parts in the process of equipment aging, that is, the plant receives information about when to update the machines.
Going forward, Subaru plans to continue rolling out the new AI-based technology to introduce quality control to other ICE components.
Artificial intelligence began to check the quality of Subaru engine parts
