INSPECT · AIVQC Production

The OK/NOK decision is made at the station, not in the cloud.

Production is the component running right at the line — it analyses images locally, makes an OK/NOK/Error decision and passes it on to the process, with no dependency on a constant Internet connection.

Every decision is made on an edge PC at the station, based on the last verified package delivered by Server. Production images never have to leave the station or the plant — analysis happens locally.

A station runs on recipes: different product variants can use a different configured inspection, and if a new model version causes a problem, the station can roll back to the previous one in a controlled way, without manual file changes on the machine.

Production also detects the loss of its own ability to inspect — if something prevents a reliable decision, the system flags it instead of silently letting the product through. Every inspection result goes into a local history and, over Modbus TCP, to the rest of the process — for example, to the line's PLC.

Local image analysis

The OK/NOK/Error decision is made at the station, with no images sent externally and no dependency on an Internet connection.

Recipes and rollback

Inspection configuration matched to the product variant, and a controlled rollback to the previous, verified model version.

Modbus TCP and history

The inspection result reaches the line PLC over Modbus TCP and is recorded in a local history database.

Permissions matched to role

Changing a recipe or activating a new version is available only to authorised roles, not every operator.

INSPECTION CYCLE

From the sensor signal to the reject pulse.

Every product goes through the same measured cycle. If any step misses its time, the station doesn't guess — it reports a fault.

01
Trigger
A presence sensor, a PLC product sequence, or continuous inspection while the line is moving.
02
Image
A fresh camera frame — the station checks it isn't analysing a stale image.
03
Decision
The local model and the recipe thresholds give an OK, NOK, REVIEW or ERROR result.
04
Signal
A reject pulse to the PLC before the agreed result-delivery deadline.
05
Record
Result, recipe, operator, shift, batch and — for NOK — the image with the defects marked.

FAIL-SAFE

When the station isn't sure of the result, it says so loudly.

The most dangerous inspection system is one that silently lets products through when something has stopped working. Production does the opposite: an error is never treated as OK, and when the station cannot guarantee a correct decision it latches a fault and stops reporting itself as ready to the PLC.

A later good cycle doesn't clear the fault on its own. An authorised person acknowledges it after fixing the cause — so nobody overlooks the products that passed in the meantime.

Faults latch on, among others, no fresh image in time, analysis taking too long, a product arriving while the station was busy, a missed result deadline for the PLC and lost communication with the PLC.
A heartbeat signal toggles every second, and the ready signal drops during a fault — the PLC can stop or divert the line.
A product that is only partly visible gets REVIEW instead of a guessed OK.
The station supervisor restarts the application after a crash, and if problems start right after an update, it returns to the previous version.
Signing out or a session timeout never interrupts an inspection in progress, and stopping always finishes the current product.

Result	Meaning
OK	No defect exceeded the recipe threshold
NOK	At least one defect was found; with a PLC connected a reject pulse is sent
REVIEW	No reliable decision, e.g. the product was partly out of view — check it by hand
ERROR	The station could not inspect (camera, model or timing) — never treated as OK

AIVQC supports quality control and is not a machine-safety device — the line must always be safe to stop by hand.

LINE INTEGRATION

Signals any automation engineer will understand.

The station exchanges signals with the PLC over Modbus TCP. Before connecting the real line, you check the whole logic in simulation mode — together with the automation engineer responsible for the PLC program.

Optional registers with speed, encoder position and a PLC product number, scaled to millimetres.
A camera connected to the station computer or a network camera over an RTSP or HTTP stream, with manual exposure and focus so images match training.
The sensor-to-camera delay is set from a measurement on the running line.
Two modes: detecting and counting every product, or simple OK/NOK with a centre gate.

Signal	Direction	Meaning
Trigger	PLC → station	A product has reached the camera
Line running	PLC → station	A line stop ends continuous inspection
Reject	Station → PLC	Pulse for a NOK product
Heartbeat	Station → PLC	Toggles every second while the application runs
Healthy	Station → PLC	The station can inspect; false during a fault

AIVQC does not stop the line itself — the PLC reacts to a missing heartbeat or healthy signal. Every address is tested in simulation and on the stopped line.

RECIPES

A recipe from Trainer: verified, controlled, reversible.

A recipe is a package prepared in Trainer: the model, defect classes, thresholds, image preprocessing and inspection strategy for one product on this station. Every file has a checksum — a package that does not match is rejected.

Packages arrive automatically through AIVQC Server, or from a local folder when the station works without Server.
A package made for another station, or for hardware this station lacks, is marked incompatible and cannot be activated.
The threshold approved in Trainer is the starting point, and who may change it depends on the role: the expert decides whether operators have access to it, a technician adjusts it only within an allowed range around the recipe value, and the expert can change it freely.
Every activation is recorded, and an expert can return to the previous recipe with one button.
A new recipe is never switched in during a running cycle.
Station settings export to a file, and a copy goes to Server after every change — on a replacement computer you restore them in a few clicks.

OPERATORS AND HISTORY

Every result with its image, recipe and the person running the shift.

An operator signs in with a PIN and sees one large start button, the result and the shift counters. Settings and tools are for technicians and experts, and everyone has their own account — the history shows who ran each inspection.

History with date, shift, batch and result filters, a view of the source image and the detection overlay, and CSV export.
Records survive restarts and power loss. You set the retention period, NOK image storage and the storage limit.
Kiosk mode and a limit on who may close the application — a station is not left without inspection by accident.
A technician collects images for the next training — all, NOK only or low-confidence only — and sends them to the engineer through Server or on a USB drive.

Role	Sign-in	Permissions
Operator	PIN	Inspection, recipe choice, shift and batch, history view; threshold changes only if the expert allows
Technician	Password	As operator, plus settings, threshold adjustment within the allowed range and collecting training images
Expert	Password	Everything, including free threshold changes, operator permissions, local accounts and station supervision

PLACE IN THE PLATFORM

Production runs what Trainer and Server prepared.

Production never trains or approves models on its own — it only runs packages that went through Trainer and were published by Server. That way the production station always knows exactly which model, recipe and configuration were behind every result.

FAQ

AIVQC Production

What happens if the line loses its connection to the plant network?+

Production keeps a local copy of the last verified package and continues inspecting offline. Only downloading new versions is affected, until the connection returns.

Can one edge PC handle more than one recipe?+

Yes — recipes let a single station handle several product variants, provided the station has been qualified for each of them.

Does AIVQC stop the line?+

Not directly. The station sends a reject pulse, a heartbeat and a healthy signal, and the PLC program decides to stop or divert the line when the station reports a fault.

Can an operator change the decision threshold?+

Only if the expert allows it. The threshold from the recipe approved in Trainer is the starting value. The station expert decides whether operators may change it, a technician may adjust it within an allowed range around that value, and the expert can change it freely. A permanent change for every station is a new recipe version from Trainer.

Which cameras can be connected?+

A camera connected to the station computer, or a network camera over an RTSP or HTTP stream. Camera and lighting choices are made during the pilot, because they decide image quality.

AIVQC PILOT

Try it on your own line.

Start with a 30-day pilot on one station and see the result on images of your own product before you decide on deployment.

Have a quality engineer and IT staff? Your own team can deploy AIVQC — you pay for a licence, not for integrator hours. Sign up for the beta →

1 Trainer · 1 station
Up to 3 defect classes
30 days + free extension
No cloud

Join the pilot →Deploying with your own team