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【2020 Application Example】 AI constructs the best coating model to reduce the inspection cost of scrap electrical steel sheets, saving NT$2 million per year

Surface treatment applications face rising costs and talent gaps

The development of metal surface treatment technology affects the quality of aerospace, automobile, machinery, home appliance, communications, and fastener products sold domestically and exported. At the same time, it plays a pivotal role in domestic smart machinery, national defense, and circular economy in the " 5+2 Industrial Innovation Plan." According to 2018 survey statistics, the output value of the metal surface treatment industry reached NT$151.5 billion, an increase of 3.6% compared to 2017.

However, metal surface treatment is a labor-intensive, energy-consuming, and pollution-intensive industry. It has long suffered from a shortage of professional and technical talent, and the tightening of environmental regulations has caused processing costs to continue to rise. As a result, the industry is facing a crisis of survival and a crisis of competition from international high-value supply chains.

Manual quality control faces market challenges, while the coating process has found new opportunities

Overseas markets currently account for 70% of the revenue of a domestic steel plate coating plant. It expanded into the automotive steel, diverse supply chain, and various special steel product markets in 2016. It is imperative to improve the quality of surface treatment through innovative technologies, in order to seize international markets.

In the continuous steel plate coating process, the price difference between finished steel plate products and defective products is about 10 times. Manual inspection is used in the current stage. During the production process, 10 m needs to be cut from each steel coil and becomes fixed inspection waste, incurring a significant amount of cost for waste materials, and also delaying production. At the same time, the instability in manual inspection quality also makes production quality unstable.

The Southern Taiwan Industry Promotion Center (STIPC) utilized the guidance capabilities it accumulated over a decade in Southern Taiwan, and matched the steel plate coating plant’s pain point with an AI optical measurement technology service provider. This reduced the cost of consumables used in steel plate inspection, and reduce errors caused by fatigue during manual inspection.

Stabilizing steel plate coating quality with optical measurement technology

In order to control the quality of the coating process, image recognition must be used to identify product yield. General measurement technology requires contact to detect the thickness of coating. Therefore, the STIPC match the plant with an AI optical measurement technology service provider to assist in the development of a non-contact optical measuring instrument, record coating data, and then compare the data to obtain the best process parameters.

Illustration of 3D non-contact measuring instrument testing

▲Illustration of 3D non-contact measuring instrument testing

Presentation of measuring instrument data

▲Presentation of measuring instrument data

Rapid scanning through AOI achieves non-contact measurement. It can quickly scan the profile and overall dimensions of the object being measured without directly making contact with the product or damaging the surface of the steel plate. It can immediately control coating thickness and quality of steel plates without increasing cost. We hope to calculate data of the process environment and design the product abnormality warning range, so that it can be used to make the process smarter.

In the future, this solution will further detect surface defects and color differences of finished steel plates to reduce the proportion of discarded material, solve the problem of the gap in professional and technical talent, and improve product yields.

Schematic diagram of non-contact measuring instrument

▲Schematic diagram of non-contact measuring instrument

Establish an AI coating model to create world-class steel plate supply standards

With the guidance of the STIPC in 2020, the steel plate coating plant accelerated the application of advanced process technology and established quantified indicators of surface treatment process quality standards, which will help domestic surface treatment companies produce high-quality electrical steel sheets, and is expected to increase the product price by 2%.

In addition, it can also assist companies in the industry obtain heat treatment certifications for high-value aerospace, electric vehicle, fastener, and aerospace products, increasing the industry’s added value through innovative thinking, and continuing to lead the metal industry forward.

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【導入案例】巨量遙測空間數據AI分析雲端服務平台 使衛星遙測影像順利落地應用
AI Analysis Cloud Service Platform for Remote Sensing Big Data Enables the Smooth Application of Satellite Remote Sensing Images

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important supports for accelerating agricultural transformation Using satellite remote sensing image data can accelerate the development of smart agriculture However, in the past, it was difficult to extract large-area crop distribution through satellite remote sensing images, not to mention the cost If you wanted to use free information, you had to visit all websites of international space agencies, look through the wide variety of satellite specifications, and carefully evaluate the sensor specifications, image resolution, and revisit cycle After finding suitable images, you had to look at them one by one to filter the ones you need Next is downloading dozens of images that are often several hundreds of Megabytes MB each, which might exceed the capacity of your computer Also, after overcoming image access and preparing data, you must then start to confirm the downloaded image products and which bands you want, because the image you see is not just an image file jpg or png, but rather complex multi-spectral information, attribute fields and coordinate information It takes a lot of effort just to confirm the correct information Facing GIS software packages with complex functions is the start of another trouble The complex image pre-processing process and the inflexible machine learning package greatly reduce the efficiency of analyzing data After finally getting the results of crop identification, you might find that the best time for using map information may have already passed The above-mentioned complex and time-consuming satellite image processing problems are precisely the pain points of the market ThinkTron expanded from traditional machine learning to modern deep learning applications, and developed an "AI Analysis Cloud Service Platform for Remote Sensing Big Data" under the GeoAI framework, breaking through the constraints of details in the spatial information for customers Differences between the process before and after introducing the AI analysis cloud service platform ThinkTron said that Taiwan's ODC Open Data Cube system has been completed and began providing services after years of efforts from the Taiwan Space Agency TASA, formally becoming aligned with international trends The powerful warehousing technology allows users to easily capture and use image data of a specific time and spatial range according to their needs The warehouse stores multiple satellite image resources from international space agencies, including the ESA's Sentinel-1 one image every 6 days, Sentinel-2 one image every 6 days, USGS's Landsat-7 one image every 16 days, Landsat-8 one image every 16 days, and the domestic Formosat-2 one image every day and Formosat-5 one image every 2 days ThinkTron develops satellite image recognition tools based on Python Breaking free from the limitations of GIS Geographic Information System software packages, ThinkTron integrated GDAL Geospatial Data Abstraction Library based on Python, and considered computing efficiency and parallel processing when developing all tools required for satellite image processing and image recognition modeling, including coordinate system and data format conversion, grid and vector data interaction, and data intra-difference and normalization All of the tools are designed with AI applications in mind, and some commonly used tools are packaged into an open source package under the name TronGisPy to benefit the technical community ThinkTron utilized the team's understanding of satellite remote sensing images and the collected tagged data crop distribution maps to preset the image recognition modeling process, the required training data specifications, and dataset definitions This is imported into the machine learning LightGBM or deep learning CNN framework that was completed in advance, and the entire training process to be performed in the Web GIS interface, providing users with partial flexibility to freely filter images, confirm spatial and temporal ranges, select models, and adjust hyperparameters In addition to the operation of training models, it also provides historical models to output identification results, and finally displays the identification results of crop distribution on the Web GIS map In fact, agriculture is not the only industry that needs satellite remote sensing applications AI applications of spatial information have also appeared in various fields as companies in different industries aim to enhance their global competitiveness For example, surveying and mapping companies that have a large amount of map data can use the AI analysis cloud service platform to store map data while also accelerating the efficiency of digital mapping Under the severe global climate change and the risk of strong earthquakes, there is a wide variety industrial insurance, agricultural insurance, financial insurance, or disaster insurance are all inseparable from spatial information The use of remote sensing image recognition to understand insurance targets has long been an international trend AI Analysis Cloud Service Architecture for Remote Sensing Big Data

【導入案例】防患於未然 麗臺科技研發心臟衰竭AI辨識技術可及早發現病徵
Preventing Problems Before They Arise: Leadtek Research Develops AI Technology for Early Detection of Heart Failure Symptoms

With the increase in the elderly population, the incidence of various chronic diseases is rising daily Among these, heart failure is not only a silent killer it has a very long disease course with a high recurrence rate, leading to increased burden on healthcare personnel However, by using medically certified electrocardiography acoustics devices, coupled with AI predictive assessment of heart failure risk and remote care systems, diagnosis can be aided significantly, helping doctors make accurate diagnoses for subsequent patient medical care or referrals Heart failure has a lengthy course and medical expenditure is five times that of diabetes If you find yourself short of breath even with minimal movement, or if you wake up from sleep needing to sit up to feel comfortable, or if you have symptoms such as swollen lower limbs, anxiety, restlessness, fatigue, or a loss of appetite, be cautious These could be signs of heart failure According to statistics, there are about 60 million people with heart failure worldwide, with 5 million new cases every year In China, nearly 290 million people suffer from cardiovascular diseases, accounting for the second leading cause of death among urban residents around 12 million of these are heart failure patients, accounting for over 59 of cardiac-related deaths The disease course of heart failure is exceptionally long, and both its recurrence and rehospitalization rates are exceedingly high, resulting in medical costs that are twice that of hypertension and five times those of diabetes According to US research statistics, the 30-day mortality rates for patients with myocardial infarction and heart failure are respectively 166 and 111, and the rehospitalization rates within 30 days are 199 and 244 The symptoms of heart failure, because they are similar to those of other diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma, have an 185 misdiagnosis rate, which poses a challenging problem for healthcare institutions Leadtek, a major graphics card manufacturer, has been investing in the medical and healthcare sector since 2000 Following two heart attacks in 2011 and 2015 experienced by Chairman Lu Kunshan, Leadtek has focused on health big data, independently developing AI technology for heart failure recognition This AI application reads patients' electrocardiograms and phonocardiograms to perform anomaly detection and model prediction of heart failure risk, enabling early detection of disease symptoms Leadtek independently developed heart failure AI recognition technology to predict medical history and risk Leadtek's independently developed heart failure AI recognition technology has the following three judgment functions 1 Prediction of heart failure history Classifies electrocardiogram and phonocardiogram data into 'with hospitalization history of heart failure' and 'no history of heart failure' 2 Risk prediction of heart failure Provides a predictive risk value of heart failure occurrence based on the electrocardiogram and phonocardiogram data 3 Prediction of heart failure recurrence risk For patients with heart failure, it reads their phonocardiogram and electrocardiogram data, assessing the risk prediction of heart failure recurrence Leadtek states that the application of heart failure AI recognition technology can assist doctors in making more efficient and accurate diagnoses, facilitating subsequent medical treatment or referrals for patients As an instance, in studies of heart failure patients discharged from Taipei Veterans General Hospital, using the EMAT Electromechanical Activation Time index and SDI Systolic Dysfunction Index calculated by the synchronized electrocardiography-acoustic device as treatment guidelines resulted in a higher survival rate compared to those treated based on traditional symptoms This research has also been published in the authoritative international cardiology journal JACC, receiving recognition in the international market System manufacturers can apply heart failure AI recognition technology for other value-added applications Leadtek states that cooperating system manufacturers can choose to build their own heart failure AI risk prediction engine, uploading their system's electrocardiogram and phonocardiogram data to Leadtek's heart failure AI risk prediction engine, which then returns risk prediction values for integration by system manufacturers cooperating manufacturers as a value-added application input Not just for clinical use, the heart failure AI risk prediction engine can also be extended for use at home or in the workplace Additionally, this system can be extended to other applications, including One, hospital outpatient screening Doctors can use the electrocardiogram and phonocardiogram recorder along with the heart failure AI risk prediction model to conduct a 10-second rapid test in outpatient and emergency departments to assess a patient's cardiac history and heart failure risk Two, discharge risk assessment Doctors can use the electrocardiogram and phonocardiogram recorder along with the heart failure AI risk prediction model to assess the heart failure risk during a patient's hospital stay The test data can serve as a pre-discharge risk assessment and prognostic indicator Three, continuous home care Patients can use the electrocardiogram and phonocardiogram recorder, wearable electrocardiogram recorder, and transmit through a home transmission box gateway to measure electrocardiogram and phonocardiogram signals at home and upload them to the amor health cloud platform for heart failure AI risk prediction analysis Patients can manage their health autonomously via an APP, reviewing historical physiological trends disease management nurses can manage member health through the health management backend Web Four, home rehabilitation training Patients can wear a health bracelet to monitor activity, fatigue, circulation, and sleep, autonomously managing their health through the mobile APP and observing the risk of heart failure, engaging in exercise and rehabilitation training to aid in swift recovery The heart failure AI recognition technology system can also be extended to employee home care applications Additionally, in factories or offices, this system can also achieve employee health management goals, with applications including One, workplace safety units Provide employees with wearable electrocardiogram recorders before they start work duties Two, physiological monitoring for business executors While executing business duties or training, employees wear wearable electrocardiogram recorders for fatigue warnings, signaling whether physiological conditions allow continued execution of tasks Task segments can use data transmission boxes or apps to upload physiological monitoring information to the health management platform, assessing the heart failure risk for operations staff, with test data serving as an indicator for enterprise resource human units and public safety Three, workplace physiological monitoring center care The workplace physiological monitoring center can inspect and record employees' historicalphysiological trends through the health cloud platform Four, workplace nursing units Nursing units receiving instructions from the physiological monitoring center can provide health management advice based on employees' physiological trends nursing centers can manage employee health through the health management backend Web Five, employees can wear health bracelets to monitor activity, fatigue, circulation, and sleep, autonomously managing their health and observing the risk of heart failure through the mobile APP, engaging in exercise and rehabilitation training to aid in rapid recovery Workplace application of heart failure cloud care and big data center diagram「Translated content is generated by ChatGPT and is for reference only Translation date:2024-05-19」

這是一張圖片。 This is a picture.
AI-Based PCBA Surface Defect Detection Improvements

With the introduction of theAOIAIWith the introduction of the system, we can improve product yield, reduce costs, and from a business perspective, increase customer trust and sales revenue Moreover, AIit has advantages that are difficult to imitate, unlike other equipment that can be bought with money, making it hard for our competitors to catch up with us Our company's current development We are committed toIOTsmart manufacturing our systems already include smart materials systems, environmental humidity control systems, anti-miscarriage systems, smart procurement computation systems, smart inventory systems, solder paste management systems, and production management systems We have asked other manufacturers about the possibility ofAIinspectingPCBAsurface defects, each hoping that we would purchase their equipment, but none were effective upon verification After discussing with IT service providers, we defined it asAOIAIa feasible operational model Tzuhong Technology has invested inAOIAIan inspection plan to checkSMTtext on components, solder joints, polarity, missing partsand usingAIto replace manual learningAOIand define the 'potentially defective' parts, enhancing productivity and reducing misjudgment rates Industry pain points Taiwan faces a severe labor shortage, especially those willing to perform visual inspections are few and typically older, increasing the frequency of missed inspections Thus, the most critical bottleneck in the pursuit of high-quality electronics has become post-production inspections Previous consumer products with undetected anomalies were acceptable within a certain ratio However, in the automotive industry today, undetected defects could lead to fatalities hence, the automotive industry has extremely high quality demands To survive in the automotive supply chain, we must address the issue of undetectable anomalies Moreover, as wages in Taiwan continue to rise, we can only endeavor toAIreplace traditional manpower with technology, otherwise, even if the anomaly leakage problem is resolved, the relatively high labor costs will still prevent competitiveness in this industry Application technology and explanation Initially,Figure 1,PCBUpon emerging,Reflowsystem, it will undergoAOIwill undergo inspection, dividing into 'suspected defective' and good products At this point, the 'suspected defective' portion accounts for20manual review for these20parts, further classifying the 'suspected defective' portion into good and defective products With We aim to leverageAItechnology, to shift from manual re-inspection of these20technology, we aim to replace manual review of 'suspected defective' products withAIand after review, the results still yield 'good' and 'suspected defective' products, but now 'suspected defective' comprises only3thus reducing the workload of Tzuhong's employees from20down to only3In theory, it isAOIIn theory, after inspection, it is further reviewed byAIbut it appears to go throughAOIonly, so we call this technologyA0IAIDetectionFigure 2。 The original AOI inspection process The operator will place the testPCBboard intoAOIthe inspection equipment, outputtingAOI information on defective products, then manually re-inspect one by one to determine if they are defective AOIAI inspection process The operator will place the testPCBboard intoAOIthe inspection equipment, outputtingAOIinformation on defective products after, then proceed byAIfirst performingAOIre-assessment of defective products, outputtingAIinformation on defective products afterward, then manually re-inspect one by one to determine if they are defective Process differences By introducing theAOIAIsystem, not only can we enhance the efficiency and yield of visual inspection personnel, we also have this timeAIexperience in system introduction, we will also incorporateAIthe use of big data into Tzuhong's existing smart manufacturing systems, further enhancing the performance of our smart manufacturing systems and reducing the pressure on employees Difference between pre and post-introduction Promotion strategy 1 Similar field diffusion allSMTmanufacturers face bottlenecks in inspections leading to shipment delays introducing this system can solve the severe labor shortage issue and enhance shipment speed and quality, allowing self-promotion to customers or through equipment dealers to cater to relevant needs 2 Cross-industry expansion plans negotiate withAOImanufacturers to directly integrateAIthe system intoAOItheir systems, enhancing their market competitiveness Profit strategy 1 In collaboration withAOImanufacturers, collect licensing fees 2 Direct sales toSMTthe manufacturing industryAIsystems 3 ProvideSMTmanufacturing industryAOIAIsystem subscription model「Translated content is generated by ChatGPT and is for reference only Translation date:2024-12-09」