PhaseTrace

Sub-millisecond synchronized mechanical thermal modulation for wide-area NDT

A high-power active thermography module combining mechanically gated excitation and sub-millisecond synchronization for quantitative, non-contact layer inspection.

PhaseTrace high-power thermography module projecting halogen excitation onto an inspection surface — 3kW-class gated excitation with phase-resolved defect contrast.

Thermal phase map showing contrast between normal and repaired vehicle panels — 3kW-class gated excitation with phase-resolved defect contrast.

10Hz in-motion excitation. Direct anomaly detection via phase mapping.

Synchronized multimodal imaging pairs mechanically gated shuttering with real-time phase-map analysis.

Mechanical modulation

3kW halogen excitation, gated at 10Hz-class.

Synchronized shutter control converts wide-area heating into a repeatable modulation waveform.

Thermal phase comparison between a normal front fender and a repaired front fender

Thermal phase map

Normal front fender left. Repaired front fender right.

Phase contrast reveals repair history and coating discontinuities non-destructively.

Halogen-scale power. Flash-level temporal precision.

PhaseTrace bridges the gap between high-power halogen lock-in systems and high-resolution flash thermography, providing wide-area excitation with phase-resolved temporal capability.

Practical excitation scalePhase-resolved temporal capability

localizedwide-areaslow / lock-in limitedsub-ms phase timing

Halogen lock-inWide-area power, limited high-frequency modulation

Flash thermographyRich impulse response, costly field-scale expansion

PhaseTraceWide-area excitation plus repeatable phase analysis

localized / sample-levelwide-area / product-scale

Mechanically gated excitation with local illumination phase correction.

Mechanical sweeping introduces positional phase shifts. The PCT-pending architecture uses visible-spectrum mapping to locally correct the thermal response phase with sub-millisecond synchronization precision.

01Mechanically gated excitation

10Hz-class modulation from a 3kW halogen source.

02Illumination phase referencing

Visible-spectrum mapping extracts local illumination timing directly from the surface.

03Thermal response measurement

IR imaging measures heat diffusion through coatings, layers, and discontinuities.

04Local phase correction

Thermal response phase is corrected against local illumination timing to isolate material properties.

Software-configurable modulation

Target depth tuning. Multi-frequency phase analysis.

Because the modulation frequency is selected in software, a single module tunes its thermal-wave penetration depth to each target — lower frequencies probe deeper layers, higher frequencies resolve shallow coatings — with no change of hardware.

The same software control captures several frequencies in one pass, unlocking multi-frequency phase analysis across complex multilayers and quantitative thickness evaluation.

3kWwide-area halogen excitation

10Hzmechanical modulation target

<500ussynchronization tolerance

±1%phase repeatability target at 10Hz-class

Field-ready integration. Engineered for automated inspection.

Capture control, synchronized imaging, phase correction, and post-processing run inside the module. PhaseTrace integrates with stands, cobot arms, gantries, or rails without an external PC stack.

Cutaway of the PhaseTrace module showing its major components: a radiometric IR camera (50Hz), a stereo 3D camera synced with IR, 3kW halogen lamps, an up-to-10Hz synced rotary shutter, built-in edge AI computing with wireless networking, and an industrial waterproof power, Ethernet, and GPIO interface. — A single sealed module integrates excitation, synchronized IR and stereo imaging, on-device compute, and industrial I/O.

On-device edge computing

Executes real-time signal processing and phase mapping without external PCs.

Battery-ready power

Runs from a commercial 220V / 3kW battery-pack setup.

Motion integration

Stand, cobot arm, gantry, and rail integration.

Industrial I/O

M12 Industrial Ethernet, Wi-Fi, LoRa, Bluetooth, and 2 GPIO trigger pins.

Special-purpose, wide-area quantitative layer inspection.

Applicable beyond automotive domains. Designed for any multilayer or composite structure exhibiting thermal contrast, from aerospace stealth coatings to marine vessel hulls.

PhaseTrace scanner inspecting a full-scale vehicle side panel for repair history

Automotive repair-history detection

PhaseTrace scanner inspecting the side surface of a stealth aircraft coating

Stealth coating maintenance

PhaseTrace scanner inspecting the underside girder of a real bridge

Bridge paint-thickness inspection

PhaseTrace scanner inspecting a full-scale coated industrial metal surface for hidden corrosion

Corrosion under coating

PhaseTrace scanner inspecting the coated hull side of a ship in dry dock

Ship paint inspection

PhaseTrace scanner inspecting an aircraft coating surface during maintenance

Aerospace coating lifecycle monitoring

EWSHM 2026 · Research & Academic Early Access

Join the Academic & Research Early Access Waitlist.

PhaseTrace is preparing a research and academic first version for Q4 2026. Labs and NDT teams can register early interest for preorder access and introductory launch pricing.

3kW10Hz-class<500µs sync±1% phase repeatability

EWSHM 2026 reveal
Preorder waitlist — open now
Limited research batch
Q4 2026 first shipments

Academic first versionIntroductory launch pricing planned

Awards & Recognitions

Outstanding Paper Presentation AwardThe Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing (KSNT)
Awarded for the paper “Multi-frequency modulated laser thermography and machine-learning-based detection of automotive outer-panel repair types,” selected as an outstanding presentation at the 2025 KSNT Fall Conference.
CES 2025 Exhibition PresenterConsumer Electronics Show, Consumer Technology Association (CTA)
Demonstrated the world’s first Non-Contact & Non-Destructive Used-Car Accident Inspection Module at the KAIST Pavilion, showcasing AI-powered active thermography for automobile coating thickness measurement and accident diagnostics.
ROBOT WORLD 2024 Exhibition PresenterMinistry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE); Korea Association of Robot Industry (KAR); Korea Institute of Robot Industry Advancement (KIRIA)
Presented the non-contact automobile inspection module to an international robotics audience, emphasizing its scalable integration into industrial systems.

Selected Publications & Presentations

Yongmin Kim, Bosung Kim, Jaeyoung Jo, Hyeonjin Kim, and Hoon Sohn, “Classification of automobile body repair types using multi-frequency thermography and machine learning,” The 12th European Workshop on Structural Health Monitoring (EWSHM 2026), Toulouse, France.
Yongmin Kim, Bosung Kim, Jaeyoung Jo, Hyeonjin Kim, and Hoon Sohn, “Automotive Panel Repair Type Detection Using Multi-frequency Modulated Laser Thermography and Machine Learning,” The Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing (KSNT) Annual Fall Conference 2025, Jeonju, South Korea, November 12–14, 2025.
Yongmin Kim, Jaeyoung Jo, Bosung Kim, Hyeonjin Kim, and Hoon Sohn, “An Automobile Repaint and Panel Repair Detection System using Active Thermography and Machine Learning,” The Korean Society of Automotive Engineers (KSAE) 2024 Annual Conference & Exhibition, Jeju, South Korea, November 20–22, 2024.
Yongmin Kim, Jaeyoung Jo, Bosung Kim, Hyeonjin Kim, and Hoon Sohn, “Tracking of Car Accident Histories by Discriminating OEM and Repaired Coating Areas through Active Thermography,” The 17th Quantitative Infrared Thermography (QIRT) Conference, Zagreb, Croatia, June 1–5, 2024.

Acknowledgement

PhaseTrace is developed by Autopedia in collaboration with the KAIST Smart Structures and Systems Laboratory. The technical development has been supported and validated through academic publications, conference presentations, and major technology exhibitions, including CES 2025 and ROBOT WORLD 2024.