BMW claims industry first with automotive CT scanning system

The company claims that the technique – which uses a team of coordinated robots to perform detailed CT scans of vehicles and components - is the only one of its kind in the automotive industry.

Until now, vehicles have had to be dismantled for analysis, but CT allows checks to be carried out with the vehicle completely intact. The new X-ray system is based in the BMW Group Pilot Plant in the Research & Innovation Centre (FIZ) in Munich, at the intersection between Development and Production.

Commenting on the system - which was developed in collaboration with the Fraunhofer Development Centre for X-Ray Technology (EZRT) - Udo Hänle, BMW’s head of Production Integration and Pilot Plant said: “We can now analyse our prototypes in minute detail without having to dismantle them first. Ultimately, this will enable us to integrate new technologies into a series vehicles even faster.”