Cameras have been deployed in factories for over a decade - so why, Franz Tschimben wondered, hasn't automated visual inspection yet become the worldwide standard?
This question motivated Tschimben and his colleagues to found Covision Quality, an AI-based visual-inspection software startup that uses NVIDIA technology to transform end-of-line defect detection for the manufacturing industry.
The simple answer is that these systems are hard to scale, said Tschimben, the northern Italy-based company's CEO. Material defects, like burrs, holes or scratches, have varying geometric shapes and colors that make identifying them cumbersome. That meant quality-control specialists had to program inspection systems by hand to fine-tune their defect parameters.
Covision's software allows users to train AI models for visual inspection without needing to code. It quadruples accuracy for defect detection and reduces false-negative rates by up to 90% compared with traditional rule-based methods, according to Tschimben.
The software relies on unsupervised machine learning that's trained on NVIDIA RTX A5000 GPUs. This technique allows the AI in just one hour to teach itself, based on hundreds of example images, what qualifies as a defect for a specific customer. It removes the extensive labeling of thousands of images that's typically required for a supervised learning pipeline.
The startup is a member of NVIDIA Metropolis - a partner ecosystem centered on vision AI that includes a suite of GPU-accelerated software development kits, pretrained models and the TAO toolkit to supercharge a range of automation applications. Covision is also part of NVIDIA Inception, a free, global program that nurtures cutting-edge startups.
In June, Covision was chosen from hundreds of emerging companies as the winner of a startup award at Automate, a flagship conference on all things automation.
Reducing Pseudo-Scrap Rates In manufacturing, the pseudo-scrap rate - or the frequency at which products are falsely identified as defective - is a key indicator of a visual-inspection system's efficiency.
Covision's software, which is hardware agnostic, reduces pseudo-scrap rates by up to 90%, according to Tschimben.
As an item passes through a production line, a camera captures an image of it. Then, Covision's real-time AI model analyzes it. Finally, it sends the information to a simple user interface that displays image frames: green for good pieces and red for defective ones.
For GKN Powder Metallurgy, a global producer of 13 million metal parts each day, the above steps can occur in as quick as 200 milliseconds per piece - enabled by Covision software and NVIDIA GPUs deployed at the production line.
Two to six cameras usually inspect one production line at a factory, Tschimben said. And one NVIDIA A5000 GPU on premises can process the images from four production lines in real time.
NVIDIA GPUs are robust and reliable, he added. The TensorRT SDK and CUDA toolkit enable our developers to use the latest resources to build our platform, and the Metropolis program helps us with go-to-market strategy - NVIDIA is a one-stop solution for us.
Plus, being an Inception member gives Covision access to free credits for NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute courses, which Tschimben said are very helpful hands-on resources for the company's engineers to stay up to date on the latest NVIDIA tech.
Increasing Efficiency, Sustainability in Industrial Production In addition to identifying defective pieces at production lines, Covision software offers a management panel that displays AI-based data analyses of improvements in a production site's quality of outputs over time - and more.
It can show, for example, which site out of a company's many across the world is producing the best metal pieces with the highest production-line uptime, or which production line within a factory needs attention at a given moment, Tschimben said.
This feature can help managers make high-level decisions to optimize factory efficiency, globally.
There's also a sustainability factor, Tschimben said. Companies want to reduce waste. Our software reduces production inefficiencies, increasing sustainability and making the work more streamlined.
Reducing pseudo-scrap rates using Covision software means that companies can produce materials at higher efficiency and profitability levels, and ultimately waste less.
Covision software is deployed at production sites across the U.S. and Europe for customers including Alupress Group and Aluflexpack, in addition to GKN Powder Metallurgy.
Learn more about NVIDIA Metropolis and apply to join NVIDIA Inception.
Attend NVIDIA GTC, running online Sept.19-22, to discover how vision AI and other groundbreaking technologies are shaping the world.
North America Stories
26/03/2026
Extron and Audio-Technica have announced that their Design Solutions devices, Ce...
26/03/2026
SPORTEL Asia took place March 24-25 at the Orchard Hotel Singapore, drawing 370 participants representing more than 220 companies from 35 countries. Approximate...
26/03/2026
LTN will demonstrate satellite-to-IP migration solutions for broadcasters, cable networks, MVPDs, and station groups at NAB Show 2026 (Booth W2100).
The C-Ban...
26/03/2026
The Seattle Mariners have partnered with Daktronics to install an upgraded outfi...
26/03/2026
The Esports Foundation (EF) has awarded National Team Partner status to organizations and individuals across more than 100 countries and territories for the Esp...
26/03/2026
Telestream has announced expanded integration between its Vantage workflow platf...
26/03/2026
FOR-A Corporation has announced a partnership with Nippon TV and NVIDIA to distr...
26/03/2026
CBS Sports and the WNBA have expanded their partnership through a new long-term, multiplatform rights agreement. CBS Sports will feature up to 20 regular-season...
26/03/2026
Zac Brown Band will star in the Sunday Night Baseball show open on NBC and Peacock, NBC Sports announced. The open was filmed at American Family Field, home of ...
26/03/2026
Major League Baseball opens the 2026 season with nationally televised games across multiple media partners. Fans can visit MLB.com/Watch for a complete schedule...
26/03/2026
DIRECTV has announced an agreement to carry nine new MLB-operated team channels, covering the Cincinnati Reds, Detroit Tigers (Detroit SportsNet), Kansas City R...
26/03/2026
Nationals.TV, the Washington Nationals' local broadcast channel, is now avai...
26/03/2026
Starting Thursday, March 26, MLB.TV will be available on the ESPN App, giving fans access to more than 2,000 out-of-market regular season games. Fans can also r...
26/03/2026
By Matt Klein
Hello to everyone reading this - whether you're a current YEP, HPA member, or just YEP-curious. I'm Matt Klein, one of the co-chairs of t...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
28 participating companies, from start-ups to blue-chips, lead the UK Group as part of the GREAT Britain and Northern Ireland presence across all the Halls at N...
26/03/2026
Arkona Unveils BLADE//planner and Major Usability Enhancements at NAB 2026
Brie Clayton March 26, 2026
0 Comments
New graphical configuration tool and...
26/03/2026
Bitfocus showcases complete control at NAB Show 2026
Brie Clayton March 26, 2026
0 Comments
Continuing development drives advances in security, availa...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Nevion introduces powerful new Panel Builder to enhance VideoIPath broadcast con...
26/03/2026
2026 Oscar Nominated Films Powered by Blackmagic Design
Brie Clayton March 25, 2026
0 Comments
DaVinci Resolve Studio used on 27 of this year's no...
26/03/2026
Leader to present full suite of advanced Test & Measurement solutions at NAB Sho...
26/03/2026
Boston Conservatory to Present New England and Collegiate Premiere of Groundbrea...
26/03/2026
Back to All News
Have a Wish Worth Dying For? Netflix's First Korean YA Hor...
26/03/2026
Back to All News
The Truthers, Starring Jose Coronado and St phanie Magnin, Pre...
26/03/2026
Editor's note: This post is part of Into the Omniverse, a series focused on ...
26/03/2026
That gaming backlog won't clear itself - GeForce NOW is here to help. Stream the latest titles straight from the cloud across a variety of devices.
This we...
25/03/2026
Live match directors Sarah Cheadle (Sky Sports), Rob Levi (TNT Sports), and Andrew Swift (BBC Sport) sit down with the Premier League's Rachel Nightingale t...
25/03/2026
The senior from Upstate New York is manning the mic while also interning for the athletic department's sports-information team
In the live-sports-video ind...
25/03/2026
Synamedia has announced ContentArmor Edge Watermarking, a server-side solution t...
25/03/2026
SES has announced meoSphere, a medium Earth orbit (MEO) satellite network targeted for operation by 2030. The first phase will pair SES-developed software-defin...
25/03/2026
TVU Networks is working with Reuters on a phased migration from satellite to a c...
25/03/2026
Nielsen has announced three senior appointments. Seth Ladetsky has been named Head of Global Sports. Trevor Fellows will lead Nielsen's advertiser and agenc...
25/03/2026
Anoki and Amagi have launched In-Scene Ads powered by Anoki ContextIQ across Amagi's portfolio of in-content ad formats for Free Ad-supported Streaming TV (...
25/03/2026
Arkona Technologies will announce a series of enhancements to its BLADE//runner platform at NAB 2026 (Booth C.1808). The updates focus on usability and workflow...
25/03/2026
Daktronics has installed two tower displays and a video wall in the Lexus Club at Petco Park in San Diego ahead of the 2026 season.
Continuing to improve the ...
25/03/2026
MultiDyne Video & Fiber Optic Systems is celebrating its 50th anniversary as NAB Show 2026 approaches. The company was founded in 1976 by Vincent Jachetta, an N...
25/03/2026
IPC, a provider of integrated communication solutions, will make its NAB 2026 de...
25/03/2026
Live production categories were led by NBC, FOX, and ESPN's NFL coverage...
25/03/2026
The Atlanta Braves and Spectrum have announced a multiyear distribution agreemen...
25/03/2026
(L-R) Charlie Tyrell and Daniel Roher attend The AI Doc: Or How I Became An Apocaloptimist Premiere during the 2026 Sundance Film Festival at The Ray Theatre ...
25/03/2026
L3Harris Technologies and RFTEQ Pty Ltd signed a memorandum of understanding to ...
25/03/2026
L3Harris delivers combat-ready Torpedo Tube Launch and Recovery system, which deploys and retrieves Iver4 900 autonomous underwater vehicles through submarine t...
25/03/2026
The company expands leadership team under Chief Revenue Officer Amilcar Perez
S...
Cameras have been deployed in factories for over a decade - so why, Franz Tschimben wondered, hasn't automated visual inspection yet become the worldwide standard?
