Case Study / 03
In-Motion Fill Verification
Designed and commissioned an in-motion bottle-fill verification system under a one-week deadline, using available sensors to solve a measurement problem the team had not previously implemented.
Overview
The engineering problem at a glance
- Challenge
- A moving filling operation needed a practical way to verify how much product was entering each bottle. Static weighing was difficult, the internal team had no established solution, and a customer quality review was approximately one week away.
- My role
- System architecture, sensing, controls, and commissioning
- Key decision
- Evaluate the sensors against the real moving process, then build around the method that could produce dependable information without stopping the bottles for a conventional static measurement.
- 01Moving bottle
- 02Sensor evaluation
- 03Control logic
- 04Fill result
- 05Quality review
01
One-Week Constraint
The quality review created a fixed delivery window. There was not time to wait for a perfect off-the-shelf answer, so the work had to move quickly from evaluation to architecture, programming, and production testing.
02
Why Static Weighing Was Impractical
The bottles remained in motion through the filling process. Removing and weighing each container would interrupt production and would not provide the in-line verification behavior the operation needed.
03
Evaluating the Available Sensors
I evaluated the available ultrasonic and laser sensing options against the actual bottle, product, motion, and line conditions. The goal was to identify which signal could be turned into a useful measurement without introducing an unrealistic production step.
04
Implementation and Commissioning
I designed the control approach, integrated the selected sensor method, programmed the behavior, and commissioned it on the line. Troubleshooting and refinement happened against real process behavior so the system was ready for the scheduled review.
05
Customer Review
The completed system operated successfully during the customer quality review and passed the evaluation. The result demonstrates practical ownership: select a workable architecture, make it function on real equipment, and deliver it within the constraint that matters.
Result
What the work changed
- A functioning in-motion verification system delivered within the review window
- Successful operation during the customer quality review
- A practical measurement approach built from available sensing hardware
- A commissioned system the production team could demonstrate under real conditions
Technology
Tools and disciplines
The public description omits customer-identifying details and proprietary production information while preserving the engineering problem and delivery approach.