Damages and Defects Inspection FAQs

Damage and defect systems commonly detect:

• Scratches/scuffs, abrasions, cosmetic blemishes
• Dents/deformation, edge rolls, sink marks
• Chips, broken corners, missing material
• Cracks/crazing, stress whitening (in some plastics)
• Contamination/foreign material (fibers, debris, residue)

Detection success hinges on making the defect “stand out” using the right illumination geometry and viewing angle.

Yes—common methods include:

• Zone-based rules (some areas can tolerate cosmetic marks)
• Feature discrimination (shape, intensity, directionality, edge sharpness)
• Multiple lighting angles to separate superficial artifacts from true defects
• AI models trained on “acceptable” vs “reject” examples.

This is especially useful for molded, machined, and printed surfaces.

Common strategies include:

• Multiple cameras to cover all sides and reduce occlusions
• Part rotation/indexing to present the surface to a single camera
• Telecentric optics when geometry must be distortion-free
• 3D imaging to capture shape defects on curved parts

The system is designed so that critical surfaces are consistently visible under controlled lighting.

A typical thresholding process includes:

• Defining defect categories: critical, major, minor
• Setting limits for area, length, count, contrast, and location (zones)
• Aligning criteria to customer specs and real process capability
• Validating with representative samples including borderline parts
• Reviewing thresholds after launch using captured inspection data

This keeps decisions consistent, defendable, and production-friendly.

Yes, but reflective surfaces require deliberate optical design:

• Diffuse lighting (dome/diffuser) to reduce bright hot spots
• Polarizers to suppress glare
• Dark-field / low-angle lighting to highlight scratches and scuffs
• Multi-light setups to reveal multiple defect types

Many “impossible” reflective inspections become straightforward once lighting is engineered correctly.

A common approach is:

• Log defect results by type, size, location, timestamp, lot/SN, station
• Store images for failed parts (and optional sampling of passes)
• Use dashboards for Pareto, trend, SPC, and drift
• Correlate trends with process variables (tool wear, temperature, material lots)

This turns inspection into an ongoing process improvement feedback loop.