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Color and Light Measurement Solutions for the Automotive Industry

Light, Display, and Color measurement instruments are crucial to the inner-workings of the automotive industry. Interior and exterior vehicle lighting must be evaluated for uniformity and precision. It is imperative that brightness and other color-related standards for quality remain consistent from vehicle to vehicle.

Color and appearance can make all the difference in your product, especially when managing metallic, pearlescent, gloss, and other more complex finishes. High-quality color measurement instrumentation ensures that color and finish quality remain consistent throughout the entire manufacturing process.

If you are looking for a complete solution to achieving these goals, Konica Minolta Sensing Americas has the answer. We offer highly accurate light and color measurement solutions for all lighting and color applications. Within lighting applications, we are capable of measuring interior lighting, displays, gauges and even head & tail lights. For reflective color applications, we can measure a wide variety of surfaces, coatings, textiles, plastics, and vinyl with best-in-class precision to ensure the vehicle meets or exceeds your specifications.

Color and Appearance Frequently Asked Questions

How is color measured in the automotive industry ?

Automotive interior color is measured with spectrophotometers that capture spectral reflectance and calculate colorimetric data (typical CIELab or L*a*b*), then compare them to a standard using delta E* (DE*) tolerances to obtain an overall color difference. Because interiors combine plastics, leather, fabric/textiles, and painted trim (often with a textured finish) instruments with diffused illumination are used to ensure consistency. Measurements are typically done using multiple illuminants to guard against metamerism, where components can match under one light source but mismatch under another.

How do you measure metallic and pearlescent automotive paint?

Metallic and pearlescent automotive paint is measured with a multi-angle spectrophotometer-like the CM-M6-, which captures color as several aspecular angles since these finishes shift in color and brightness depending on the viewing angle. The instrument illuminates the sample and records the spectral reflectance at each angle, generating a full angular profile that’s compared against a determined standard using delta E* (DE*) tolerances to obtain color differences at each angle rather than a single reading.

How do automotive manufacturers ensure color consistency between body panels, bumpers and trim?

Manufacturers ensure consistency by measuring each component against the same color standard using spectrophotometers, since each substrate reflects and reacts to light differently even when formulated to the same target color. Suppliers and OEMs typically share color data digitally and set tight delta E* (DE*) tolerances so each of these different samples from different production lines and suppliers match when installed on the finished vehicle.

How do I choose a color measurement instrument for an automotive application?

Choosing the right instrument depends on what you are measuring and where: exterior automotive paint with metallic or pearlescent finishes should use a multi-angle spectrophotometer due to the shifting of color and brightness dependent on the viewing angle. For most other applications, a diffused illumination (d/8 sphere) instrument works well. However, users should always verify against specifications from the manufacturer or other OEMs to ensure consistency with the instruments’ illumination, aperture size, tolerances, and illuminants.

Eines Vision Systems – Machine Vision

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EINES Frequently Asked Questions

How does machine vision work? Machine vision involves capturing images of a component or vehicle using industrial cameras and analyzing them with specialized software. The system compares the captured information with predefined quality criteria to detect defects, perform measurements, or verify the correct position and presence of components.

The result is an automated and objective inspection, where every part can be evaluated according to the same criteria. The inspection data can also be stored and integrated into quality and production systems, providing traceability and enabling manufacturers to monitor quality trends and continuously improve their manufacturing processes.

**Figure 1. Machine vision systems example

What kind of inspection solutions does EINES provide?

EINES develops customized machine vision and AI-based inspection solutions for the automotive industry. Our technologies cover different quality control needs, including surface inspection, metrology, error proofing, robot guidance and end-of-line inspection.

Our solutions can be adapted to the customer’s specific production process, inspection requirements and cycle time.

Does EINES provide customized solutions or standard products?

EINES provides customized turnkey solutions rather than off-the-shelf products.

We analyze each customer’s specific application and develop the appropriate combination of hardware, software, cameras, lighting, AI and integration to meet the required inspection criteria.

Can EINES integrate its inspection systems into an existing production line?

Yes. EINES solutions are designed to integrate into existing manufacturing environments and can be connected with PLCs, robots, MES and other factory systems.

Depending on the application, our systems can operate inline, stop-and-go or as semi-automatic stations with an operator.

Does EINES provide after-sales support and maintenance?

Yes. EINES offers technical support, maintenance and after-sales services through our Customer Success Package.

The level of support, maintenance and response times can be adapted to the customer’s requirements and defined in the corresponding service agreement.