How to Detect Small Defects with Computer Vision
Learn how to detect hairline, low-contrast defects like burrs with computer vision.
Add a real-time inspection layer to every edge with vision AI for burr detection. Built for the operations where a burr the width of a hair decides whether a sealing face seals, the deburr cell that ran all shift turns out to have been polishing around the burr instead of removing it, or the punch that dulled on Tuesday ships sharp-edged parts until someone bleeds on Thursday. Whether you're machining, drilling, stamping and shearing, trimming castings, or verifying a deburr process, Roboflow inspects the edges that matter on every part, with per-part records and tool-wear trends behind every pass.
Edges, Holes, and Features:
Deburring Verification and Contamination:
Cells, Trends, and Systems Integration:
Bring intelligence to every edge today. Stop burrs from becoming leak failures, contamination events, or the injury report that names a part.
What is burr detection with Vision AI?
Burr detection with vision AI uses computer vision models to inspect part edges: burrs on machined faces and chamfers, at drilled holes, and along sheared, stamped, and trim edges, plus clinging chips and slivers, and verification that deburring actually removed them. Models trained on your actual parts and edge specifications inspect every part at cell exit, with per-part records and tool-level trends that support ISO 13715 edge requirements and customer audits.
Can Vision AI see a hairline burr on a bright metal edge?
The machined edge is the hard case: a burr the width of a hair made of the same bright metal as the edge it clings to, chamfer glints that mimic it, and coolant residue confusing everything. Deep-learning models trained on your actual parts, edges, and lighting learn the difference between a clean chamfer catching light and a burr breaking the edge line, hold that judgment across features and finishes, and flag borderline edges for a check instead of guessing. For intersections hidden inside cross-drilled bores, borescope imagery feeds the same models, so the edge you can't present to a camera still gets inspected.
Does burr detection support ISO 13715 and our edge specifications?
Yes. Roboflow models can run as documented inspection controls against your ISO 13715 edge condition callouts and inside IATF 16949 (automotive), AS9100 (aerospace), and ISO 9001 processes, with per-part inspection records, imagery, model version history, and training data lineage that support PPAP submissions and customer audits. Roboflow is the inspection engine; your engineering team owns the edge specifications and acceptance limits.
Can it integrate with our machining cells, PLCs, and MES?
Yes. Roboflow Inference exposes a standard API and supports common industrial protocols, so edge inspection events flow into your existing systems: cell and line PLCs from Allen-Bradley and Siemens, MES and ERP platforms like SAP and Oracle, and SCADA and HMI platforms like Ignition and AVEVA, through REST, MQTT, OPC UA, and direct database writes. PLC-level integration routes a flagged part to deburr the moment an edge fails, and every event carries part, cell, tool where derived, imagery, and disposition, with a full audit trail behind every lot.
