Automated Control of Surface Defects on Ceramic Tiles Using 3D Image Analysis

This paper presents a method of acquisition and analysis of three-dimensional images in the task of automatic location and evaluation of defects on the surface of ceramic tiles. It presents a brief description of selected defects appearing on the surface of tiles, along with the analysis of their formation. The paper includes the presentation of the method of constructing a 3D image of the tile surface using the Laser Triangulation Method (LTM), along with the surface imaging parameters employed in the research. The algorithms of three-dimensional surface image analysis of ceramic tiles used in the process of image filtering and defect identification are presented. For selected defects, the method of measuring defect parameters and the method of visualization of defects on the surface are also presented. The developed method was tested on defective products to confirm its effectiveness in the field of quick defect detection in automated control systems installed on production lines.