Enabling robotic arms to not only “move fast” but also “see accurately”—Partnering with KEYENCE’s LJ-S8000 Series to create a new flexible 3D inspection solution

As manufacturing transitions to flexible production, inspection processes face increasingly high requirements. Against this background, conventional inspection methods are gradually showing their limitations: conventional line laser profilers often only obtain a single cross-sectional profile of the target in a single shot, requiring an additional scanning mechanism to complete full 3D imaging; while industrial cameras (2D vision) are easily affected by ambient light, color, and gloss differences in complex sites, resulting in insufficient stability. Especially in scenarios like welding, the machining process generates dust and smoke, which can easily cloud the lens after long-term use and affect imaging. Faced with the production reality of “high-mix, low-volume,” how to balance efficiency and flexibility while ensuring accuracy has become a common challenge faced by Huayan and its customers.

“Excellent products should be paired with excellent partners to create true ‘hand-eye coordination’.”

Huayan positions itself as an “arm-making” company—focusing on the “hand” of high-precision robotic arms; while for the choice of “eyes,” Huayan valued KEYENCE’s technical strength in the field of vision inspection and sensors. What truly impressed Huayan was the LJ-S8000's 3D laser snapshot technology: the device features a built-in laser light source and scanning mechanism, eliminating the need for additional lighting, motorized stages, or encoders. “Inspection can be performed simply by installing the device,” making deployment extremely simple. At the same time, its high-brightness blue laser, combined with a high-precision CMOS and unique optical design, provides higher light concentration density and is virtually unaffected by ambient light, making it highly suitable for complex industrial sites. According to Mr. Li, the high-speed shooting and high repeatability of the LJ-S8000 can meet high-end customers’ requirements for inspection accuracy and cycle time. (Note: For specific LJ-S8000 specification values such as shooting speed and repeatability mentioned in the text, please refer to the latest official product specifications from KEYENCE.)

“In the field of vision inspection and the sensor system, I believe KEYENCE is the undisputed global leader and a world-renowned brand. Its high speed and high accuracy can meet the high-end requirements of customers, so we are very willing to cooperate with KEYENCE.”

Huayan collaborative robots provide the capability of the “hand” with their high-precision positioning and large arm span, while KEYENCE’s LJ-S8000 provides the high-speed, high-precision 3D perception of the “eye”; the combination of the two demonstrates high-precision and stable inspection capabilities. (Note: For indicators such as the repeatability of positioning and maximum arm span of Huayan collaborative robots, as well as data such as the number of employees and R&D personnel scale, please refer to the official disclosures from Huayan Robotics.)

On automotive parts production lines, this solution has been used to replace manual sample inspection: a mobile robot equipped with a robotic arm and a 3D laser snapshot inspection head performs multi-angle, multi-point scanning on workpieces at multiple stations, determines the consistency of key processes (such as riveting points), and uploads the results to the MES system in real time. Once an abnormality is detected, the source of the problem can be traced back, avoiding batch quality accidents caused by missed human inspections, which both saves labor costs and improves yield rates. For welding and machining parts, the solution focuses on appearance defects, 3D dimensions, positioning, and complex workpiece identification, using the concept of "scanning before processing and scanning after processing" to avoid interference from dust and smoke during processing. In precision electronics and other fields with extremely high requirements for tiny, reflective metal workpieces, both parties are also continuously conducting evaluations and verifications.

How to ensure stability under high-speed motion? On one hand, Huayan’s self-developed motion control and vibration suppression algorithms play a key role; on the other hand, the LJ-S8000 does not require the robotic arm to move and scan collaboratively. The robotic arm only needs to move to the designated position to complete the 3D scan, thereby reducing errors during motion.

“As long as there is a need for inspection, including error-proofing scenarios, the ‘hand-eye collaboration’ between KEYENCE and Huayan Robotics plays a very key role. With high speed, high accuracy, and high stability, customers are very satisfied.”

Huayan regards overseas markets as a key development direction. In recent years, the proportion of its overseas business has continued to rise, and it has established subsidiaries and offices in multiple countries. As a company with a wide global footprint, KEYENCE also attaches great importance to collaboration with overseas partners. Both parties hope to join forces to cooperate deeply among existing and prospective customers, jointly create better “hand-eye collaboration” products, and continue to deepen collaboration in products, overseas layout, and global services. (Note: Please refer to the official disclosures of both parties for the specific number of countries, subsidiaries/offices, and the proportion of overseas revenue for Huayan’s overseas business, as well as the number of KEYENCE’s global offices.)

“Chinese manufacturing is going global. We hope to join forces with partners like KEYENCE to achieve deeper cooperation in overseas layout and global services, and bring our solutions to overseas markets together.”