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GM Names DVT as Vision Supplier for L6 Powertrain

6 March 1998

GM Names DVT as Vision Supplier for L6 Powertrain

    DETROIT, March 5 -- DVT Corporation (Norcross, GA), maker of
SmartImage Sensors, was selected last week to provide the vision solution for
the powertrain portion of GM's new L6 facility.  On the L6 project, a planned
truck engine facility, GM is designing a fully automated part tracking and
process monitoring system.  Driven by networked industrial PCs (from
Nematron), the powertrain line will implement a new part marking process
called Data Matrix to enhance part tracking and tracability.  The two
dimensional symbol carries critical tracking data in a very small area and in
a form that allows for significant error correction if the code should get
damaged. Each component will be marked and in addition to performing
inspections, the DVT Series 700 SmartImage Sensor will read the code and
report inspection results back to the control system.  In this way SmartImage
Sensors will play an integral role in the quality control, process monitoring,
and tracability aspects of the manufacturing process.
    SmartImage Sensors are CCD-based sensors that capture product images
similar to using a video camera.  The resulting image is then processed in the
system's internal processor.  A user simply teaches the system what to look
for using a Windows-based interface and then the system stores those
parameters and reports its findings to the control system in mere
milliseconds.
    DVT's products are already performing inspections at many GM facilities,
but this project presented a new challenge.  GM engineers needed a system that
could not only perform inspections but also read two dimensional codes and
communicate over a Profibus network.  "We have been searching for innovative
technologies that will assist us in the monitoring and part tracking process
and we have used the DVT systems before and know they are reliable.  I went to
DVT and explained what we needed.  I provided their R&D team with a list of
requirements, and then I added a wish list.  They met all the requirements and
even went beyond the wish list", says Jim Nickolaou, a Raytheon Project
Engineer with GM Powertrain's New and Major Projects Division.  "Last October,
when Jim [Nickolaou] came down to meet with us and explained GM's needs, we
had networking and Data Matrix in our future plans.  This gave us the push we
needed to move forward right away", recalls Michael Schreiber, Ph.D., Director
of Applied Engineering at DVT.
    The Series 700 is now equipped with the ability to read Data Matrix codes
and communicate on Profibus.  Already this  new capability is opening other
doors, and DVT sees even more potential for the future.

SOURCE  DVT Corporation