Color Sensor Case | Atonm Helps a Shanghai Auto Manufacturer Detect Missing Welds

Project Background

The customer's factory mainly manufactures automotive exhaust pipes. During pipe production, welding is used to join sections. Occasionally welding equipment malfunctions cause incomplete welds (leading to exhaust leaks in service). We need to detect whether weld seams have missing welds and output a signal for detected defects.

Project Objective

Objective: Accurately and effectively detect missing welds and output the target color signal.

Challenges: The pipe rotates and is not always perfectly stable, so the detection point may vary.

Solution

Traditional photoelectric sensors only report changes in light intensity and cannot reliably detect weld seams on stainless steel at the same distance. Using a color sensor based on RGB light, the system can effectively distinguish color differences and provide more accurate detection. A small spot-size accessory allows more precise targeting.

This solution uses Atonm CL1-N3S1 Color Sensor + F-RP110 + lens FG-RP03S (0–20mm spot, 4mm diameter). Because weld seam color differs clearly from the pipe material, the color sensor can reliably detect missing welds.

Atonm color sensors outperform competitors in color capacity and reliability.