Bart Ribbens

About

Bart Ribbens is a leading researcher in the field of non-destructive testing (NDT), with a primary focus on advancing active thermography for industrial inspection. His work is particularly influential in the automotive sector, where he has developed novel methodologies for assessing the integrity of critical components like spot welds. Ribbens’s major contributions lie in the automation and optimization of thermographic inspection. He pioneered the integration of robotic systems, such as the KUKA KR16, with time-of-flight imaging to create 4D (3D + time) measurement systems, moving beyond traditional 2D techniques. His research on advanced path planning and visibility studies has enabled fully automated, in-line defect detection, making industrial inspection faster and more reliable. With his most-cited paper on spot weld inspections garnering 13 citations, Ribbens’s work is recognized for bridging the gap between laboratory research and practical, industrial application. His innovative approach to combining robotics with thermal imaging is setting new standards for quality control in manufacturing.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   Spot Weld Inspections Using Active Thermography

   13 citations · 2022
2. 2
   4D Active and passive thermography measurement system using a KUKA KR16 robot and time-of-flight imaging

   7 citations · 2016
3. 3
   Optimized robotic setup for automated active thermography using advanced path planning and visibility study

   4 citations · 2018
4. 4
   A Simple Evaluation Procedure for Range Camera Measurement Quality

   3 citations · 2016

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links