In automotive manufacturing, vehicles are leak-tested during the assembly process. These water ingress detection tests are usually performed by hand and involve a major effort. Schreiner ProTech has developed an alternative—the ((rfid))-DistaFerr WetDetect—that is easy to use and therefore reduces time and costs.
In modern vehicles, every model change entails the installation of more electronics and sensors than in the preceding model. As a result, the number of holes in the vehicle’s bodywork through which wire harnesses to connect sensors or electronics are inserted keeps growing. Perfectly sealing these holes poses a major challenge to all automobile manufacturers. To ensure that vehicles are waterproof, new models in particular pass through a high-pressure car wash and are leak-tested during the assembly process. Until now, such leak tests have been performed by hand, which involves a major effort.
Perfect Leak Testing: The new RFID Label with a Sensor
The ((rfid))-DistaFerr WetDetect is a label development that combines UHF-RFID-on-Metal-technology with a moisture sensor. During the assembly process, the label is applied to critical places prone to water ingress. The moisture sensor responds even to tiny amounts of liquid in real time and, due to the RFID label, the condition can be recorded immediately after the vehicle has passed through the washing cycle. Due to customized programming and allocation of the labels to a specific location on the vehicle, testing personnel can immediately tell where ingress of liquid has occurred. This automatic leak localization significantly reduces manpower requirements compared to all previously used methods.
RFID and Sensors
The combination of RFID and sensors in a flat, easy-to-apply, and cost-efficient design opens up a new dimension of information gathering: in addition to all previously used information, the condition of an object can be acquired and read out. This offers an all-new level of quality in process control to a wide range of industries.