Every Cell Accounted For: Machine Vision in EV Battery Manufacturing

EV battery lines move too fast for human inspection, and the defects that matter are too small to catch reliably by eye. Machine vision closes that gap — but mirror-finish foils, dark cathode coatings, and sub-millimeter defects make battery one of the harder environments to light.

This presentation looks at how lighting technique shapes inspection results: line lighting, dark-field, diffuse coaxial, and backlighting each solve a different piece of the problem, and SWIR and 3D structured light extend imaging into areas standard visible inspection cannot reach. Attendees will leave with a clearer sense of how lighting choice — often more than camera or algorithm — decides whether a defect gets caught.

About the presenter
Steve Kinney is a machine vision expert who joined Pulnix America and entered the machine vision industry in 1998. Going on to work for Basler, JAI, CCS, and now Smart Vision Lights, he has many years of machine vision and imaging experience and has become an expert in industrial cameras and imagers. Since starting work in the machine vision lighting sector in early 2015, he now combines camera expertise with machine vision lighting to bring an expanded knowledge base to the market.

Kinney has additionally been an active A3 member and a current member of the A3 Board of Directors and vice chair of the Vision & Imaging Technology Strategy Board. He has been a past chairman of the AIA’s Camera Link Committee for a 20-year span, beginning with its inception in 1999. As chair of one of the major standards committees, he has also been a participant in the G3’s Future Standards Forum.

Kinney has also been a major material contributor and instructor for the A3 Certified Vision Professional (CVP) program in both the Basic and Advanced CVP Camera + Image Sensor Technology courses. He currently is the director of training, compliance and technical solutions for Smart Vision Lights in Muskegon, MI.