KOMPASS brings a length measurement system onto the production line. Calibrated cameras find both ends of each part, compare the measured length with your drawing tolerance and pass the result to the line controls, so short or long parts are held before assembly or packing.
Cut, formed and extruded parts drift in length as blades wear, material stretches or a stop moves. A length reading taken once a shift describes that one part, not the hundreds made after it.
Our AI Product Inspection system, KOMPASS™, works as an inline length measurement system: calibrated vision hardware and trained models locate part ends reliably and measure length against your drawing. The result reaches the line controls and is stored with an image of the part.
A length measurement system depends on the camera setup as much as on software. KOMPASS combines a fixed, calibrated view, end detection trained on your parts and a direct link to the line response.
Mount the camera and lighting for the part's full length, then calibrate pixels to millimetres with a reference target. Long parts may need two cameras or a moving view.
The model finds each end face despite burrs, chamfers or a rough cut. Length is calculated along the part axis and checked against the limits for that variant.
In-limit parts continue. Out-of-limit parts are rejected or held, and every reading is stored with its image for traceability and drift review.
Send us your drawing, the length tolerance and a few in-limit and out-of-limit parts. We will assess the camera, optics and handling the check needs.
Get In TouchHand gauges, offline metrology and an inline length measurement system each have a place. The difference is how many parts get measured and how fast a result reaches the line.
A length measurement system built on vision uses a fixed camera, controlled lighting and a calibration target to convert pixels into millimetres. Edge detection, supported by a model trained on your parts, finds each end of the part even when the cut is rough. The software measures the distance along the part axis and compares it with the limits for that part number. The result can trigger a reject, a hold or a log entry.
Tubes, rods, profiles, springs, fasteners, cut strips and moulded parts are common candidates. Non-contact length measurement suits soft, hot, coated or delicate parts that a gauge could mark or deform. It also suits lines where parts move too quickly for hand checks. Very long parts may need two cameras, one at each end, or a view that follows the part. Transparent or highly reflective parts need lighting trials first.
Placing the light behind the part creates a backlit silhouette with sharp, high-contrast ends. That makes the end position far less sensitive to surface colour, print or machining marks. Where part height varies or the part cannot sit flat, a collimated backlight with matched optics keeps the edge sharp across the working distance. Front lighting can still work, but it usually needs more training examples to handle reflections and chamfers at the ends.
Run a gauge R&R study on the installed station using parts that span your drawing tolerance. Compare the results with your reference gauge and check repeatability across shifts, operators and part positions. As a working rule, measurement uncertainty should use only a small fraction of the tolerance band. If it uses more, change the optics, resolution or part presentation before the station makes automatic accept and reject decisions.
It can, when exposure, lighting and part spacing are designed for the line. Camera length measurement on a moving conveyor needs a short exposure to avoid blur and a trigger that captures each part in the same position. Processing and rejection also have to fit inside the gap between parts. Feasibility should be confirmed against the full station cycle, not only against how quickly the model returns a result.
The station signals the configured response, such as an air blow-off, diverter, reject bin or line stop. During the first weeks, out-of-tolerance parts can be held for review instead of scrapped automatically. Every decision is stored with the measured value and the part image. That record helps quality teams confirm that rejects were correct and find the moment a process started to drift toward its limit.
Length is often the first dimension worth moving inline because it drifts with tool wear and is simple to verify. A vision measurement system on the line covers every part, while your existing dimensional inspection keeps first-article approval and periodic audits. Many plants add width, diameter or hole checks to the same station later, provided the camera view already contains those features and the optics suit them.
Share the drawing with its length limits, the part variants, the line speed and how parts are presented at the proposed station. A small set of good parts plus known short and long parts helps us test the optics. We also ask where a reject can physically happen. With that, we can recommend the camera layout, lighting and handling for your length measurement system and plan the validation.
Share your drawing, length tolerance, part variants and line speed. We will confirm what a length measurement system needs at your checkpoint, then walk you through timeline and cost. KOMPASS deployments typically take 6 to 8 weeks.
