Accelerating Industrial CT Scans
Recalls across major industries can cost billions when manufacturing errors go unnoticed. In the electric vehicle sector alone, improper assembly inside battery cells has led to massive financial losses for major manufacturers.
Quality assurance issues affect companies across the automotive, electronics, and energy sectors, highlighting the need for more rigorous inspection methods during production.
Industry experts note that traditional CT scanning is often too slow to perform comprehensive statistical sampling on high-volume production lines.
Software-Driven Throughput Gains
To address this bottleneck, Glimpse developed a method allowing battery manufacturers to inspect cells significantly faster by boosting throughput on existing CT scanners. The software enables facilities to scan thousands of cells per day, with upcoming super scanners aiming to complete individual scans in just a few seconds.
Expanding beyond energy storage, the startup is launching Explore, a product designed for industries such as aerospace, automotive, electronics, and medical devices. The tool utilizes image processing software to accelerate quality control checks in research labs and development environments.
Glimpse currently serves over 100 enterprise and government customers, including consumer electronics brands and the U.S. Navy.
Deep Learning Image Pipeline
The performance improvements are achieved through a custom image processing pipeline that compresses and cleans scan data. Built using deep learning algorithms, the system performs initial processing on edge computers deployed locally before transmitting data to the cloud.
This compression and optimization pipeline allows high-resolution scan images to load within seconds in standard web browsers.
Automated Defect Detection
Along with visual renders, the platform's dashboard displays precise part measurements specified by the user. For instance, in battery cells, it can track the distance between internal layers and automatically flag deviations. The deep learning algorithms also adapt based on customer input, retraining over time.
On-Demand Scanning Services
For companies lacking in-house CT equipment, Glimpse accepts physical parts for scanning at its Boston-area facility and is opening a second Scan On Demand center in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The scanning service provides a lower-barrier entry point for hardware developers to utilize advanced inspection techniques without investing in expensive hardware upfront.
