# US 12,182,990 B2 · Battery component inspection based on optical and thermal imaging > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,182,990 B2 - Document ID: US12182990B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/743,862 - Filed: 2022-05-13 - Published: 2023-11-16 - Granted: 2024-12-31 - Earliest claimed: 2022-05-13 - Assignees: GM Global Technology Operations LLC - Applicants: GM Global Technology Operations LLC - Inventors: Wei Zeng; Scott E. Parrish; Jing Gao; Brian J. Koch; Xingcheng Xiao - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12182990B2 ## CPC - G06T 7/001: {using an image reference approach} - G06T 7/0004: {Industrial image inspection} - G06T 7/32: using correlation-based methods - G06T 7/337: {involving reference images or patches} - G06V 10/143: Sensing or illuminating at different wavelengths - G06V 10/58: relating to hyperspectral data - G06V 10/806: {of extracted features} - H01M 10/4285: {Testing apparatus} - G06T 2207/10024: Color image - G06T 2207/10048: Infrared image - G06T 2207/30108: Industrial image inspection - G06T: IMAGE DATA PROCESSING OR GENERATION, IN GENERAL - G06V: IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING - H01M: PROCESSES OR MEANS, e.g. BATTERIES, FOR THE DIRECT CONVERSION OF CHEMICAL ENERGY INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY ## Abstract A system for inspecting a battery component includes a heating device configured to heat a surface of the battery component to a selected temperature, an optical-visible imaging device configured to take an optical image of the surface, a thermal imaging device configured to take a thermal image of the surface, and a processor configured to acquire the optical image and the thermal image. The processor is configured to correlate the thermal image with the optical image, identify a feature of interest in at least one of the optical image and the thermal image, determine a geometric characteristic and a temperature characteristic associated with the feature of interest, and determine whether the feature of interest is a defect based on the geometric characteristic and the temperature characteristic. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A system for inspecting a battery component, comprising: a heating device configured to heat a surface of the battery component to a selected temperature; an optical-visible imaging device configured to take an optical image of the surface; a thermal imaging device configured to take a thermal image of the surface; and a processor configured to acquire the optical image and the thermal image, and perform: correlating the thermal image with the optical image; identifying a feature of interest in at least one of the optical image and the thermal image, and determining a geometric characteristic and a temperature characteristic associated with the feature of interest; and determining whether the feature of interest is a defect based on the geometric characteristic and the temperature characteristic, wherein the determining includes, based on the feature of interest being a micro-scale feature, performing an elemental analysis of a portion of the surface having the micro-scale feature to generate an image representing elemental concentration, and comparing a pattern of the elemental concentration to a corresponding pattern in the thermal image. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the battery component is an electrode of a battery. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the heating device is configured to uniformly heat the battery component, the heating device including at least one of a heating element configured to directly contact the battery component, a non-contact device, and a heating chamber. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the micro-scale feature includes at least one of: a surface feature, and an internal feature disposed below the surface. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the system is configured to automatically inspect the battery component in conjunction with a battery cell manufacturing process. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The system of claim 5, wherein the temperature characteristic is selected from at least one of: a temperature value, a temperature distribution, a temperature variation, and a difference between a first temperature at a location corresponding to the feature of interest and a second temperature at another location of the thermal image. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The system of claim 6, wherein the feature of interest is determined to be a defect based on the temperature characteristic corresponding to a reference temperature characteristic. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the optical-visible imaging device and the thermal imaging device has a resolution selected distinguish the micro-scale feature. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein determining whether the feature of interest is a defect is performed based on associating the geometric characteristic and the temperature characteristic with a known defect based on a look up table. ### Claim 10 A method of inspecting a battery component, comprising: acquiring an optical image of a surface of the battery component and a thermal image of the surface, wherein at least one of the optical image and the thermal image is taken when the surface is heated to a selected temperature; correlating the thermal image with the optical image; identifying a feature of interest in at least one of the optical image and the thermal image, and determining a geometric characteristic and a temperature characteristic associated with the feature of interest; and determining whether the feature of interest is a defect based on the geometric characteristic and the temperature characteristic, wherein the determining includes, based on the feature of interest being a micro-scale feature, performing an elemental analysis of a portion of the surface having the micro-scale feature to generate an image representing elemental concentration, and comparing a pattern of the elemental concentration to a corresponding pattern in the thermal image. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10, wherein the micro-scale feature includes at least one of: a surface feature, and an internal feature disposed below the surface. ### Claim 12 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10, wherein the acquiring is performed in conjunction with a battery cell manufacturing process. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The method of claim 12, wherein the temperature characteristic is selected from at least one of: a temperature value, a temperature distribution, a temperature variation, and a difference between a first temperature at a location corresponding to the feature of interest and a second temperature at another location of the thermal image. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The method of claim 13, wherein the determining includes, based on the feature of interest being a micro-scale feature, determining that the micro-scale feature is a defect based on the feature of interest having a diameter that is greater than a reference diameter of a blended particle. ### Claim 15 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10, wherein at least one of the optical image and the thermal image is taken at a resolution selected to distinguish the micro-scale feature. ### Claim 16 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10, wherein determining whether the feature of interest is a defect is performed based on associating the geometric characteristic and the temperature characteristic with a known defect based on a look up table. ### Claim 17 A computer program product for inspecting a battery component, the computer program product that has computer-executable instructions stored thereupon on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, the computer-executable instructions when executed by a processor cause the processor to perform operations comprising: acquiring an optical image of a surface of a battery component and a thermal image of the surface, wherein at least one of the optical image and the thermal image is taken when the surface is heated to a selected temperature; correlating the thermal image with the optical image; identifying a feature of interest in at least one of the optical image and the thermal image, and determining a geometric characteristic and a temperature characteristic associated with the feature of interest; and determining whether the feature of interest is a defect based on the geometric characteristic and the temperature characteristic, wherein the determining includes, based on the feature of interest being a micro-scale feature, performing an elemental analysis of a portion of the surface having the micro-scale feature to generate an image representing an elemental concentration, and comparing a pattern of the elemental concentration to a corresponding pattern in the thermal image. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The computer program product of claim 17, wherein the temperature characteristic is selected from at least one of: a temperature value, a temperature distribution, a temperature variation, and a difference between a first temperature at a location corresponding to the feature of interest and a second temperature at another location of the thermal image. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) The computer program product of claim 18, wherein the determining includes, based on the feature of interest being a micro-scale feature, determining that the micro-scale feature is a defect based on the feature of interest having a diameter that is greater than a reference diameter of a blended particle. ### Claim 20 (depends on 17) The computer program product of claim 17, wherein at least one of the optical image and the thermal image is taken at a resolution selected to distinguish the micro-scale feature.