Vision inspection systems and methods for laser welds

A method for inspecting laser welds, comprising:

• using a scanning station to support a workpiece including one or more laser welds;
• arranging a vision sensing assembly including a top surface, a bottom surface, side surfaces, a light source, and a sensor above the workpiece;
• arranging a shield around the top surface and the side surfaces of the vision sensing assembly,
• wherein the bottom surface of the vision sensing assembly is arranged above a lower edge of the shield by a first predetermined distance;
• illuminating the workpiece while the sensor generates M images of the one or more laser welds of the workpiece from one field of view of the sensor and using M different exposure periods where the M different exposure periods each correspond with differing lengths of time such that each image of the M images captures information at specific depths or surface of specific reflectivity according to the M different exposure periods, where M is an integer greater than one;
• and
• combining the M images into a composite image.

A vision inspection system for laser welds, comprising:

• a scanning station configured to support a workpiece including one or more laser welds, wherein the one or more laser welds are configured to respectively join two or more components;
• a vision sensing assembly configured to visually inspect the one or more laser welds after being welded, wherein the vision sensing assembly includes a top surface, a bottom surface, side surfaces, a light source, and a sensor,
• wherein the light source illuminates the workpiece while the sensor generates a plurality of images of the one or more laser welds relative to one field of view the sensor, wherein the sensor generates each image of the plurality of images using a different exposure periods where the different exposure periods each correspond with differing lengths of time such that each image of the plurality of images captures information at specific depths or surface of specific reflectivity according to the different exposure period,
• a controller including an image processing module configured to combine the plurality of images into a composite image and analyze the composite image to determine whether a morphology of the one or more laser welds meets a predetermined criteria;
• and
• a shield arranged around the top surface and the side surfaces of the vision sensing assembly,
• wherein the bottom surface of the vision sensing assembly is arranged above a lower edge of the shield by a first predetermined distance.