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Success Story
Sentinel transforms automotive inspection with quality control, powered by Zebra Technologies and ClearView
Sentinel Vision needed zero-defect quality control for car door panels made for prestigious automotive brands. Traditional mechanical sensor inspections were costly, rigid and slow, requiring custom setups for each model.
Zebra Success Story: Sentinel Vision
Overview: Manufacturing Challenge
With 80+ components per door, even minor misalignments caused delays, revenue loss and reputational risks. Sentinel sought a more scalable, precise and efficient automation solution to reduce human error and complexity while improving inspection outcomes.
Benefits / Outcomes
- Reduced machine commissioning time dramatically—from three months to three weeks—significantly boosting production efficiency
- Lowered defect rates by 10-15%, ensuring higher-quality car door panels and fewer recalls
- Eliminated 500 mechanical sensors, reducing maintenance expenses and system complexity
- Increased operator efficiency and automated error detection
- Enhanced scalability and growth potential, allowing for quick adaptation to changing production demands
Customer
Sentinel Vision
Guimarães, Portugal
Partner
Industry
Manufacturing
Solutions
About Sentinel Vision
Sometimes, to do great things, you have to work with great people. That was clear when Sentinel Vision (Sentinel), a Portuguese company specializing in innovative machine vision technology, and ClearView, a Zebra Registered Reseller and Industrial Automation Distributor, decided to join forces—a union powered by Zebra’s machine vision solutions.
Many of Sentinel’s clients manufacture components for prestigious automotive brands. To these brands, quality control isn’t an option—it’s a license to operate. This ethos extends to every aspect of the manufacturing process. Design, assembly and inspections must all meet rigorous standards, and Sentinel expects the same from its customers. Cars need to be perfect when they roll off the assembly line: zero defects, no exceptions.
The Challenge
In the case of automotive manufacturing, the quality control process for door panels are some of the most stringent tests in the industry. The room for error is minuscule—even minor imperfections in a car door component can lead to costly recalls and damage brand reputation. Door panel assembly is particularly challenging because there are over 80 components per panel in modern cars with significant variations in size, layout and design from model to model. For Sentinel’s manufacturing customers, these traditional inspection methods (i.e., mechanical sensors) were inflexible requiring costly custom configurations per project.
To offer customers the best quality at the best value available, Sentinel sought to replace the sensor-based inspection approach with cutting edge vision technology, turning to ClearView and Zebra for their comprehensive solution and expertise.
Many of Sentinel’s previous customer solutions, relied on mechanical sensors which resulted in costly, time-consuming setup for each new model. While these solutions were effective, Sentinel—driven by a relentless commitment to improvement—sought to enhance outcomes further. Joel Alves, Sentinel’s CCO, emphasizes, “Our buyers serve a number of really well-known customers. The margin for error here is effectively zero. For our customers, shipped items need to be perfect when they arrive at customer assembly plants.”
Faced with the limitations of traditional mechanical sensors, limitations which include inflexibility and high costs, Sentinel began to search for a more flexible, scalable and precise inspection system to accommodate various component combinations. Their search led to the Poka Yoke inspection machine. Named after the Japanese term for “mistake-proofing,” this system is designed to prevent errors in manufacturing by integrating advanced inspection techniques to ensure components are assembled correctly.
Beyond immediate benefits, the Poka Yoke has delivered lasting value across various projects. The system has become a standard investment for all new client projects, reflecting its effectiveness and reliability.
The Solution
To develop the Poka Yoke inspection system, Álvaro Oliveira—CTO of Sentinel and the system’s architect—partnered with ClearView, acquiring Zebra AltiZ 3D cameras to integrate into car door assembly inspection equipment, which is now sold to customers. The AltiZ cameras are a core part of Zebra’s machine vision portfolio, which includes smart cameras, vision sensors and 3D sensors. These cameras replace multiple mechanical sensors, enabling Sentinel to provide its customers with the levels of customization and precision they require at a lower cost.
“The system relies on numerous 2D and 3D cameras that allow for comprehensive inspection coverage,” explains Alves. “Zebra’s AltiZ cameras play a crucial role in capturing highly detailed images of each panel, while Sentinel’s Vision Core software processes these images and analyzes over 100 inspection points in just 30 seconds.” The inspection system employs a hybrid algorithm approach, combining AI-powered models with rule-based logic to maximize accuracy and efficiency.
ClearView’s Sales Director Andrés Carrillo Serrano elaborates on what sets the AltiZ apart: “Zebra’s 3D cameras are excellent. The AltiZ features a dual-camera single-laser design, providing superior accuracy over traditional single-camera systems. This design reduces scanning gaps from optical occlusions. Because it offers profiling rates of up to 11,000 per second, an AltiZ can generate accurate point clouds and depth maps essential for automotive quality control at breakneck speeds. Its GigE Vision® interface enables seamless integration with third-party software, making it highly adaptable to various production environments.”
Carrillo Serrano continues, “using laser triangulation, the AltiZ sensor scans car door panel contours for detailed 3D renderings, thus improving defect detection. Unlike its competitors, Zebra’s AltiZ stands out with its robust compatibility with third-party software—arguably one of its key differentiators—offering unparalleled flexibility and integration capabilities. And, like Joel said, its onboard processing enables real-time analysis, optimizing production efficiency, essential to Sentinel’s customers. The AltiZ is scalable and modular, making it suitable for both small-scale and high-volume automotive manufacturing. In a nutshell, they’re pretty cool.”
Key to all of this is the flexibility of Zebra’s technology. The 3D cameras allow seamless integration with Sentinel’s custom AI software, ensuring that the inspection process is both scalable and adaptable to diverse assembly conditions.
The Zebra Difference: Outcome and Benefits
To Carrillo Serrano, enabling Sentinel to deliver state-of-the-art equipment to customers is rewarding—and a testament to the capabilities of Zebra’s technology.
“Sentinel’s Zebra-powered AI inspection system has led to radical improvements for its customers,” explains Carrillo Serrano. “It has vastly increased production efficiency and quality too. Machine commissioning time has been reduced from three months to just three weeks, enabling faster deployment and project turnaround. Additionally, defect rates have dropped by 10-15%, enhancing the overall quality of final products.”
Alves takes over, noting “the removal of approximately 500 mechanical sensors has simplified production lines, reducing maintenance costs and system complexity for customers. Furthermore, operators have reported increased confidence and efficiency in their work, as automated error detection minimizes human errors and allows for timely corrections.”
Reflecting on the project—and its outcomes—Alves is very positive. “Beyond immediate benefits, the Poka Yoke has delivered lasting value across various projects. The system has become a standard investment for all new client projects, reflecting its effectiveness and reliability. Its scalability and adaptability allow manufacturers to quickly reconfigure the inspection process for different automotive brands and components.”
Additionally, the success of this inspection system has enabled Sentinel to expand further into other industrial sectors, such as pharmaceutical and food & beverage, demonstrating its versatility and broad applicability in quality control and automation.
The real winners though? Automakers who can produce their vehicles knowing that whatever rolls out of their factories has received the most up-to-date and effective inspection possible. You can’t put a price on peace of mind.
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