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AUTOMOTIVE & NEV

Electric Drive

Efficient quality assurance of e-motor parts at GROB

Manufacturing technology from GROB is used by more than two thirds of all electric car manufacturers. The family-owned company has earned this market leadership role mainly through its rigorous quality standards.

The supplier of production and automation systems GROB has recognized the potential of e-drives early on. Together with customers, the German company develops and builds machines and systems for the large-scale manufacture of stators and rotors for all well-known OEMs. To ensure quality and precision of the products produced on these systems, GROB relies on microscopy, optical, and tactile technologies by ZEISS throughout the whole production process, from incoming goods to the final assembled part. This approach guarantees that every e-motor part meets stringent quality standards.

Stator: simple structure, complex manufacturing

The motor of an electric car is impressively simple: A rotating electromagnet (rotor) turns in the magnetic field of a stationary permanent magnet (stator). The stator consists only of a sheet steel housing, the laminated core, and induction coils made of coated copper – although today hairpins are increasingly being used instead of wound wire coils.

“As advantageous as hairpins are, their manufacture is demanding, especially when it comes to bending and welding,” explains Georg Knoll, supervisor of welding processes at GROB and head of the workshop testing laboratory.

Quality Assurance for High-Performance E-Motors

Learn more about quality assurance for e-motors

To achieve maximum performance, the quality of all e-motor components must be precisely inspected. From hairpins to rotors and shafts, discover what is essential for each part and how the ZEISS portfolio ensures quality across every application.

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End-to-end needs technology combination

The quality assurance process of a stator starts with the incoming goods inspection: The copper wire for the hairpins is analyzed under the microscope ZEISS Axio Imager to check the condition of the insulation coatings. The software ZEISS ZEN core supports material analysis and the measurement of the coating thickness. Then the wires are bent into shape. GROB evaluates their bending behavior with the multi-sensor coordinate measuring machine ZEISS PRISMO verity to ensure dimensional accuracy and homogeneity. 

Once the hairpins are assembled in the laminated core, the welded ends of the hairpins are inspected using a computer tomograph to detect pores. GROB then rechecks the positions of the stator's welded joints with the CMM. Finally, the team inspects the entire assembly using ZEISS ScanBox, a fully automated optical measuring machine, and the inspection software ZEISS INSPECT to ensure matching dimensions and to rule out surface defects.

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Enhanced quality assurance productivity by 30%

“We combine microscopic, tactile, and optical measurement technology to achieve optimal results,” says Martin Negele, Head of Quality Assurance. And the company benefits from having a partner for all solutions in ZEISS. Negele emphasizes: “The uniform ecosystem saves us training effort and makes it easier for our employees to operate the different solutions. And it makes workload planning more flexible and efficient. As a result, our productivity has increased by 30%.”

AI enhances inspection quality of stators

Integrating AI into the inspection of stators enhances process efficiency. The AI-powered ZEISS ZEN core software detects minute defects, such as those in coatings or porosities on individual hairpin microscopy images. Additionally, computed tomography provides non-destructive, 3D visualization of internal structures for accurate assessments of hairpin integrity on the full stator. ZEISS INSPECT software excels in automated defect detection, even in fast scans of entire stators with artifacts. Pre-trained models – for example for hairpin inspections – integrate seamlessly and can be customized to meet specific requirements, ensuring optimal quality control in electric vehicle stators. 

The automotive battery separately on the white background.

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