Severstal has implemented an optical quality control system for rolled metal products with a color image

2024: Equipping key units with intelligent systems

Severstal is developing digital certification to improve quality control of its products. Among the events - equipping key units with intelligent systems of their own production. In the metal finishing shop No. 3 of the Cherepovets Metallurgical Plant, the first optical control system with a color image was installed. Severstal announced this on April 19, 2024.

The experimental equipment is mounted on the transverse cutting unit No. 2. It participates in the production of cold and hot-rolled, etched, galvanized rolled metal of various brands. Different types of surfaces and possible deviations in product quality required innovative technical solutions. The developer was the Laboratory of Measuring Systems.

Digital certification systems already cover 50% of the equipment in the rolling production of Cherepovets Steel Mill. By the end of 2026, we expect to increase this figure to 80%. At the same time, we use our own developments in the equipment and intend to replace existing foreign systems with them in the future. The optical control system for the surface of a strip with a color image uses the capabilities of artificial intelligence and includes a patented technology of two types of lighting - direct and diffusion, which made it possible to significantly expand the possibilities of detecting and classifying defects. The accuracy of determining deviations is 30% higher than that of cameras with black and white images, - said Pyotr Mishnev, Director of Technical Development and Quality of Severstal.

At the same time, the developed technology required complicating software and automation. To synchronize the shooting speed with the speed of the unit, experts from the Laboratory of Measuring Systems have developed a microcontroller with increased speed and a distributed computing system. The interface is designed taking into account the feedback and recommendations of users - employees of the workshop.

The system confirmed the warranty performance. Due to the high-quality training of the model, a high result of classification of deviations was achieved - in particular, the presence of emulsion, corrosion, scars. Severstal experts are considering the possibility of replicating the developed software package to other units.