SEOUL, South Korea—Nexen Tire Corp., has developed and implemented an artificial intelligence (AI)-based automated tire product inspection system at its manufacturing plants.
The system has been developed in a platform format, allowing application to new factories or equipment. With the introduction of this automated product inspection system, Nexen Tire, which has been expanding AI applications in the tire development process, said it has extended the scope of AI utilization to manufacturing processes.
Only tires that pass hundreds of tests during the post-production inspection process are sold, Nexen said, adding that manufacturers devote utmost efforts to the inspection processes in order to detect even minor defects that could prevent defective products from reaching the market.
Nexen Tire's AI-based automated product inspection system is applied to non-destructive inspection equipment using machine vision technology (Machine Vision, a technology that recognizes and analyzes visual information through cameras).
This includes X-ray inspection equipment for detecting structural defects and laser interferometry inspection equipment (shearography) for detecting air bubbles. The AI assists in interpreting inspection images, which previously relied on human visual assessment.
In particular, the system has achieved a defect detection reproducibility rate of up to 99.96 percent, Nexen claimed, noting it detects minute defects that human inspectors might overlook, thereby contributing to enhancing the quality of finished products.