System and method for material fingerprinting

A system for material identification, comprising:

• an array of transducers;
• and
• a processor operatively connected for computer communication to the array of transducers, wherein the processor:
• generates a plurality of first fingerprints for a plurality of material sheets supplied by a supplier at a first step of processing the plurality of material sheets, wherein each first fingerprint in the plurality of first fingerprints represents a first attenuation measurement of each material sheet in the plurality of material sheets and captured by the array of transducers;
• generates a batch mask relating the first step of processing the plurality of material sheets and based on the plurality of first fingerprints, wherein the batch mask represents a signal correlation of the plurality of first fingerprints that is unique to the plurality of material sheets supplied by the supplier ;
• identifies a target material using the batch mask;
• and
• generates a plurality of second fingerprints for the plurality of material sheets at a second step of processing the plurality of material sheets, wherein each second fingerprint in the plurality of second fingerprints represents a second attenuation measurement of each material sheet in the plurality of material sheets, wherein the second step of processing includes stamping each material sheet into an automotive component, and the second fingerprint of each material sheet represents an attenuation measurement of the automotive component.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer-readable instructions, comprising:

• instructions for capturing attenuation measurements from each material sheet in a plurality of material sheets using an array of transducers;
• instructions for generating a plurality of first fingerprints for the plurality of material sheets at a first step of processing the plurality of material sheets based on the attenuation measurements captured by the array of transducers;
• instructions for generating a batch mask relating to the first step of processing the plurality of material sheets and based on the plurality of first fingerprints, wherein the batch mask represents a signal correlation of the plurality of first fingerprints that is unique to the plurality of material sheets supplied by a supplier;
• instructions for identifying a target material using the batch mask;
• and
• instructions for generating a plurality of second fingerprints for the plurality of material sheets at a second step of processing the plurality of material sheets based on second attenuation measurements captured by the array of transducers, wherein each second fingerprint in the plurality of second fingerprints represents a second attenuation measurement of each material sheet in the plurality of material sheets, wherein the second step of processing includes stamping each material sheet into an automotive component, and the second fingerprint of each material sheet represents an attenuation measurement of the automotive component.