High Speed Real Time Quantification Of Thermal Data For Process And Industrial Control

Abstract

In the past, thermography has made few significant in-roads in the area of process and industrial control. Part of the problem has been the high frequency and dynamic range of line and image data that is detected by a thermal imagers and line scanners. For process control applications, this high data rate must be processed in real-time by complex mathematical algorithms which translate radiant energy into temperature, temperature difference, or a function thereof. This paper describes the development of a high speed real time data processing and analyzing system designed for in-plant process control and quality assurance testing. The ability to collect, manipulate and analyze thermal line-data will give supervisory computers and robots the ability to adjust processes on the fly. And, the data can be collected, statistics created and control sheets generated for quality control and manufacturing efficiency evaluations.