Development of system for online offline quality control of nonwoven fabrics functional fabrics using digital image processing techniques

Abstract

As a result of globalization and also increasing competition, it has become very important for any industry to develop solutions regarding the quality of products. Effective monitoring and control, better data predictions, quick response to query is necessary for effective Quality Control. The research work involves a development of system for online/offline quality control of nonwoven fabrics/functional fabrics using Digital Image Processing Techniques. The principal object is to determine the quality of fabric and frequency of different types of defects occurred in the fabric during the process of manufacturing. newline newlineHuman Visual Inspection of fabrics has been a criteria for Visual Assessment of fabric quality in the Textile Sector since long. It included the detection of fabric defects generally. However, this method cannot detect more than 60% of the overall defects for the fabric if it is moving at a faster rate and thus the process becomes insufficient and costly. Therefore, automatic fabric defect inspection is required to reduce the cost and time waste caused by defects. newline newlineThe present works aims at recording the number of defects in the fabric per unit length with the help of camera well supported with the software solution using MATLAB and displaying the defects and hence the quality of fabric on computer screen. At the same time, the present invention also displays the frequency of different types of defects occurred in fabric during the manufacturing process. newline newlineA quality monitoring device has been developed as a part of the research work and the quality of the fabric can be assessed by mounting the beam containing the fabric on the developed device. The Fabric Quality Monitoring Device comprises of following major components: newline1. Fabric delivery roller newline2. Fabric take-up roller newline3. Chain and sprocket driving arrangement newline4. Electric motor newline5. Video camera newline6. Computer loaded with specially developed software solution newline7. Input Power newlineThe fabric is moved forward by the driving mechanism and finally it is wound on to