We have recently been filming at RNA Automation in Birmingham, creating a video production of their revolutionary RNA MK360™ Glass Disc Vision Inspection system. This incredible machine can handle and inspect 1200 parts per minute – pushing the limits of industrial automation for certain. I won’t get into the science of this as I am no engineer – but I am a camera enthusiast. I was really impressed on a spinning glass disc being utilised to carefully rotate the parts around the inspection compartment. Cameras were carefully placed at key exposure points, and a flash system was in place. These high-resolution images were displayed on the HMI on the outside of the machine – displaying incredible detail of the part from above, the sides and the bottom. Any rejects were immediately kicked off the small internal conveyor system or off the glass disc itself; successful parts continued to a boxing compartment which feeds into the factory’s conveyor system.

Extreme speed visual inspection system

This video production was more difficult than bigger capital equipment due to the small form factor of the machine, and the tight confined spaces where I could film. Aerial filming was the first thing on the list. Once this was done, I got some shots on the outside of the machine with the camera before planning how I would get all of the footage inside of the tight space.

Engineer at RNA Automation

For the inside shots (believe me this is trickier than it sounds) I moved some practical lights inside so I could improve the exposure on the inner workings of the MK360. This inspection process is lighting fast, so the camera quite literally just sees a blur. I needed to shoot at a much higher frame rate to capture detail, so I opted for 100 frames per second. The problem with shooting at higher frame rates is that you need a lot more light to capture each frame, since the shutter speed is working much faster thus capturing less light on each frame; I tackled this by bouncing light off the inside roof panel, using much more powerful lights outside of the MK360’s windows.

We’ll be launching this video in the next few weeks.