Challenge

Inspecting battery trays for electric vehicles (EVs) presents a number of quality assurance challenges:

• EV battery trays are large, complex, and safety-critical components. They house battery cells, connectors, thermal management systems and must maintain structural integrity to ensure battery safety and performance.
• Manufacturers must inspect hole diameters, flatness, weld quality, and other precision dimensions to tight tolerances — a task that is both time-consuming and requires high metrology accuracy.
• Traditional inspection workflows struggle on the shop floor due to vibration, dust, temperature changes and require markers and extensive setup time, slowing throughput and increasing operational cost.

These challenges highlight the need for an efficient, high-accuracy inspection process that can be reliably deployed in demanding manufacturing environments.

Solution

To address these challenges, OTS, in collaboration with our technology partner Shining 3D, deployed the FreeScan Trak Pro2 optical 3D inspection system — a high-precision dynamic tracking scanner engineered for large-scale metrology tasks.

Key features of the solution include:

• Markerless 3D Scanning: Dynamic tracking removes the need for pre-placed markers, cutting setup time and streamlining inspection workflows.
• High Accuracy: Metrology-grade precision of up to 0.023 mm delivers reliable dimensional data even in complex inspection scenarios.
• Ultra-Fast Scanning: With up to 3,070,000 points per second, large battery trays can be fully scanned in just minutes.
• Seamless Software Integration: Scan data can be imported into inspection platforms like Geomagic Control X to automate detailed report generation and quick pass/fail assessments.

Together, these capabilities create a robust digital inspection ecosystem suitable for high-volume EV manufacturing.

Benefits

By implementing the FreeScan Trak Pro2 system across EV battery tray inspection workflows, OTS delivered the following benefits to our automotive clients:

➤ Significant Time Savings

• Markerless scanning eliminates up to 15 minutes of preparation time per part.
• Complete inspection cycles — including measurement and reporting — can be finished within minutes rather than hours.

➤ Enhanced Accuracy & Confidence

• Consistent metrology-grade data ensures critical tolerances are verified before parts are released for assembly.
• High repeatability reduces variability, helping quality teams make reliable pass/fail decisions.

➤ Improved Shop-Floor Productivity

• Optical tracking withstands environmental factors like vibration and dust, enabling inspection directly on the production line.
• Real-time mesh display accelerates feedback loops for manufacturing teams.

➤ Data-Driven Quality Assurance

• Digital inspection records can be archived for traceable quality control, boosting compliance and audit readiness.

Results

The integration of the FreeScan Trak Pro2 with OTS’s digital quality inspection workflow has delivered measurable performance improvements for EV component manufacturers:

• Inspection time reduced dramatically, turning previously manual, marker-based processes into fast, automated digital checks.
• Defect detection accuracy increased, minimizing the risk of out-of-tolerance parts reaching assembly.
• Quality engineering teams now have actionable 3D datasets for root cause analysis, design verification, and continuous process optimization.

By leveraging this advanced metrology solution through OTS’s implementation expertise, manufacturers can improve throughput, reduce costly rework, and ensure that every EV battery tray meets exacting performance and safety standards.