How Vision-Guided Robotics with Cambrian Is Transforming Leak Testing in Cosmetics

Leak testing dispensing pumps is one of the most repetitive and undesirable tasks in cosmetics manufacturing. Every pump must be placed into a fixed test fixture, checked for leakage over a 15-second pressure cycle, and then removed again. The cycle never changes and cannot be sped up. Over time, this becomes exhausting for human operators, which is why staffing this workstation is becoming increasingly difficult.

One cosmetics manufacturer eventually reached a point where the question was not “How do we reduce costs?” but rather “How do we keep the line running when no one wants to do this job?” This is where a Vision-Guided Robotics system such as Cambrian Vision offered a practical and reliable way forward.

The Challenge: Variation, Orientation and Human Fatigue

The pumps enter the process in bulk and are moved onto a small vibration tray. The tray helps separate the parts but does not guarantee consistent orientation. Some pumps are rotated, some lie on their side and some tilt slightly depending on how they settle.

A traditional pick and place robot would not be able to handle this arrangement. It needs predictable positions and stable alignment. This was exactly the customer’s pain point. The robot must:

• see each pump

• understand its true orientation

• select the correct gripping pose

• and place it precisely into the leak-testing fixture

This is where Cambrian’s AI vision system becomes essential. Without robotic vision, the robot would not know how the pumps are oriented on the tray. With Cambrian Vision, the robot receives accurate 3D pose data for every cycle.

How Cambrian Enables Vision-Guided Robotics in This Application

The automation cell uses a Doosan collaborative robot, a vibration tray, the customer’s existing leak-testing fixture and the Cambrian 3D vision system mounted to view the tray area. As pumps move across the small tray, Cambrian Vision captures stereo images and processes them through an AI model trained directly from the CAD

geometry of the pump.

Instead of relying on 2D pattern matching or hand-tuned machine vision rules, Cambrian’s AI vision system generates a clean 3D pose of the pump. This includes position, rotation and the correct gripping point. The robot then performs vision-guided pick and place, loading one pump at a time into the defined locations of the test fixture.

This is a crucial distinction. The robot is not blindly repeating a motion. It is being guided every cycle by Cambrian robotic vision, which adapts to whatever orientation the pump has on the tray. This is exactly why Vision-Guided Robotics is the right fit for this task. If you want to explore how Cambrian’s AI 3D vision compares to traditional solutions, read our related blog post: Why Most Bin Picking Robots Fail — and How AI 3D Vision Solves It

Precision Placement Into the Fixture

Leak-testing fixtures require accurate positioning. If the pump is slightly rotated or not seated perfectly, the test can fail or the process may stop. Human operators often struggle with consistency after hours of repetitive loading, especially when the test cycle forces constant waiting periods.

With Cambrian Vision enabling robotic vision, the cobot aligns the pump correctly every time. The 3D vision system provides the pose; the robot executes an accurate placement; the fixture always receives the pump in the required orientation. This consistency stabilizes the entire leak-testing process.

After the 15-second test finishes, the robot unloads the parts and sorts them based on the results. The cycle then repeats as long as pumps are available on the vibration tray. Operators only need to refill bulk parts occasionally and monitor the line.

Why the Customer Chose Cambrian Vision-Guided Robotics

The customer evaluated several automation concepts, but all mechanical alignment solutions struggled with the natural variation of the pumps. Tuned machine vision tools were too sensitive, and simple robot vision libraries could not reliably estimate orientation.

Cambrian provided the missing link.The factory needed the accuracy of a 3D vision system, the flexibility of AI vision, and the stability of robot-guided placement. Cambrian Vision offered all three in a compact and easy-to-use package.

The result was a complete Vision-Guided Robotics cell for under 100,000 EUR. More importantly, it solved the actual problem: the leak tester could finally run consistently without relying on human operators to perform a job that nobody wanted.

If you want to learn more about how Cambrian Vision works, visit the Cambrian Vision Product Page

A Practical Example of AI Vision in Cosmetics Manufacturing

This project shows how Vision-Guided Robotics with Cambrian Vision does not need to be complex to be effective. The task is simple, but the requirements are strict. Pumps must be gripped correctly, oriented precisely and placed into a fixture without variation. Human operators struggle with this over time. A robot with AI vision does not.

By guiding a pick and place robot with Cambrian’s advanced robotic vision, the cosmetics manufacturer gained a stable and predictable leak-testing process that matches real production demands. It is a realistic and grounded demonstration of how an AI vision system can automate a repetitive, labor-heavy step without requiring complicated mechanical design.

This is what modern Vision-Guided Robotics looks like in practice:reliable, accurate, flexible and built to solve everyday manufacturing problems. If you have a project and want to check whether Cambrian Vision-Guided Robotics can handle your parts or process, feel free to reach out to our team through the Contact Page

We are happy to review your use case.