BMW develops quality testing through hand gestures

BMW Group has started a new development approach in their bumper production facility by combining virtual and real worlds together in an everyday production procedure. Through a sophisticated non-contact gesture detection system, bumpers undergo a highly reliable quality control via hand gestures after going through the paint shop. Working with the Fraunhofer Institute in Karlsruhe, BMW Group’s Landshut plant has worked on a program that detects and evaluates hand gestures. “The system recognizes the interaction between the person and the bumper,” explained Ramona Tremmel, Project Coordinator. “A wiping motion across the component marks the bumper as flawless. If a worker points their finger at a faulty section of the bumper, however, cameras register this gesture.”

The entire system is controlled via two 3D cameras each, which are mounted above and across workplaces. “When a worker points to the bumper, the coordinates of certain points change because they are reflected by the hand,” Tremmel describes. The system stores the data and evaluates it so that people do not have to leave their workplaces any more to evaluate the bumpers. “The required sensor technology is installed in such a way that the standard workflow is not affected,” Tremmel states. Second advantage of the system is that workers do not require additional devices such as special eyewear or microphones. The system speeds up the test process; in addition, the data entry is extremely precise. According to Tremmel, “the workers have responded very positively to the new technology. The gesture interaction is simple and easy to understand and can be applied intuitively, without requiring extra training time. People do not have to walk to other workstations anymore and can concentrate better on their work.” The pilot phase for this technology is completed successfully and further preparations for the application of the system in series production are now underway.

BMW Group’s production lines are on a constant development phase. Some of the new approaches are categorised under what the company calls the term Industry 4.0. Though under constant public debate, these technologies are in their rollout stages. “BMW Group regards its workforce as the key to a lean production that is geared toward the customer benefit,” commented Harald Krüger, Member of the Management Board, BMW AG, Production. “So for the BMW Group, Industry 4.0 does not mean a production without people, and also not necessarily increasing automation. On the contrary, this is about making reasonable use of new technology and networking opportunities in order to provide ideal support to people in production and support areas”, he added.