Dart bullets staged for quality control and packaging
In May 2026, we installed a pilot version of Microscope at one of the largest contract manufacturers of plastic injection components in India. The results below summarize the first two weeks of operation, compiled immediately after receiving the performance reports.
The factory produces tens of thousands of dart bullets daily across multiple product lines. After curing, items move to the QC and packaging area — where they were previously counted by hand before boxing. The process averaged 2.5 minutes per box, accounting for different box contents (100 or 200 parts) and operator breaks. Count mismatches caused by fatigue were a known problem. By all accounts it was the least pleasant job on the floor.
The setup
Microscope is the most basic module of Inventor, designed for precise counting of small components. The setup runs on a standard PC with an HD camera. The operator selects the target count — 100 or 200 per box — presents the box to the camera, and sees the live count on screen.
After the box sits still for three seconds, the system confirms with an audio signal: a distinct sound for a correct count, a different one for an incorrect count. When the box is removed, a one-second empty-frame detection returns the system to standby. A snapshot is logged for every session.
In the new workflow, the operator fills the box to an approximate count first, then tops up or removes items until the screen confirms the target. The system’s own contribution — waiting, counting, confirming, returning to standby — takes five seconds.
Results
In seven operational days, Microscope completed 2,486 scanning sessions, counting a total of 317,200 dart items.
Session cycle time distribution — Dart Microscope
The median cycle time was 26 seconds, with most scans completing in the 20–30 second window. The fastest session finished in 14 seconds. The P95 sits at around 100 seconds — sessions in the long tail are operators adding or removing items to hit the target count, not system latency.
Particle throughput per day — Dart Microscope, May 2026
Throughput increased 44% between days 1 and 4 and doubled by the final operational day. The shift from 100- to 200-item crates in the second week makes a clean day-to-day comparison difficult, but the direction is consistent: operators build fluency quickly, and the system has no learning curve of its own.
Total particles scanned per day — Dart Microscope
We expect median cycle times to keep falling as operators settle into the fill-and-top-up rhythm. Against the 2.5-minute manual baseline, the current 26-second median is roughly a 5× speed improvement — with further headroom.
Inventor
Microscope is the simplest case of what Inventor does. The full system validates complex assemblies — from aerospace structures to avionics PCBs — checking that each component is present in the correct position to within ⅛” tolerance. Packaging completeness and product counting is a special case: an “assembly” of N identical items regardless of their arrangement.
Inventor — incorrect and correct assembly verdict on a PCB inspection