Aeroperm: Developing consistent ribbon dimensions and quality

The High-speed in-situ characterisation of Aeroperm Ribbon project, with Kite Magnetic and RMIT University, has been completed. The project sought to develop an in-situ monitoring system for the production of Aeroperm® magnetic ribbon.

Aeroperm® is a nanocrystalline soft magnetic material developed by Kite Magnetics for high-performance electric motor applications. The performance of the final magnetic component depends in part on consistent ribbon dimensions and surface quality.

The project investigated how automated sensing, machine vision and data collection could support more consistent and scalable inspection of ribbon during manufacturing.

The challenge

Long lengths of ultra-thin magnetic ribbon are produced during manufacturing. Conventional inspection methods rely on periodic sampling and offline measurements. These methods provide useful information but cannot continuously assess the material along its full length.

As production develops, continuous monitoring can provide a more complete picture of product quality. It can also help engineers understand how changes in the manufacturing process relate to changes in the ribbon.

The project therefore focused on developing a system that could:

• measure key ribbon dimensions during operation
• inspect the ribbon surface for selected quality features
• associate measurements with their location along the ribbon
• record the information for later review and analysis.

 RMIT University and Kite Magnetics developed an integrated inspection platform for use with Kite Magnetics’ ribbon handling equipment. The work combined several measurement and data-processing functions into one system.

Surface inspection

A machine vision system was developed to inspect the ribbon surface automatically. Image-processing methods were tested to identify and quantify selected surface features that can be relevant to ribbon quality.

This work demonstrated how automated inspection can supplement visual inspection and provide a repeatable method for assessing long lengths of material.

Posotion-based traceability

A key part of the project was linking measurement data to a physical location on the ribbon.

The system uses ribbon movement as a common position reference. This allows measurements from different inspection functions to be associated with the same section of material, even when those measurements occur at different locations in the system.

This creates a foundation for traceability between the physical ribbon and its digital inspection record.

Data collection

Inspection results are recorded in a structured data system. This allows information from a production run to be reviewed after inspection and creates a basis for future process analysis.

The longer-term value of this approach is not only automated inspection. A consistent production dataset can also help engineers identify trends, compare manufacturing conditions and improve process understanding.

Project outcomes

The project delivered and tested an integrated prototype monitoring capability at Kite Magnetics.

Testing demonstrated the core functions required to:

• collect ribbon dimensional measurements during operation
• inspect surface condition using machine vision
• associate inspection results with ribbon position
• record measurement and inspection data in a structured form
• support physical and digital traceability of inspected material.

The project also identified practical engineering challenges that must be addressed as the system develops from an R&D platform towards production use. These include maintaining measurement stability at higher operating conditions, improving some aspects of the inspection environment, and further developing the coverage and processing performance of the system.

These findings are an important outcome of the project because they define the next engineering steps needed for further development.

Future development

The project provides a foundation for a more advanced manufacturing quality system.

Future work can focus on improving system robustness, expanding measurement coverage and increasing automated analysis capability. As more manufacturing data becomes available, inspection results can also be compared with process conditions and final material performance.

This could support a transition from detecting quality issues after they occur to using manufacturing data to understand and control the processes that create them.

Project significance

For advanced materials manufacturing, product quality and process knowledge are closely connected. Continuous inspection provides more information than periodic sampling and creates a digital record of material produced during each manufacturing run.

For Kite Magnetics, this project represents an important step towards scalable, data-driven manufacturing of advanced magnetic materials in Australia. For the broader manufacturing sector, it demonstrates how sensing, machine vision and data integration can be applied to emerging manufacturing processes without relying solely on end-of-line inspection.

The collaboration between Kite Magnetics, RMIT University and iMOVE CRC has established a platform that can continue to develop alongside Kite Magnetics’ manufacturing capability.

Final report

A final report has been produced and is being used internally.