How Google Lens Identified the Part That Was Holding Up The Project
While working on a project, one small plastic part broke when it was tightened by hand.
We were installing radiators and it stopped the whole installation crew because of it.
So we had to find a replacement really fast.
And of course, something like this happens when you are a 3 hour drive away from home… A quick drive to the workshop was not a good option.
Using Google Lens
I decided to leverage Google Lens to identify the part and find a replacement locally.
It worked surprisingly well and fast. This is what I did.
1. Take a Photo of The Part
You can use the Google Lens app on your phone straight away to take a photo and start searching. But I like to work from my laptop. So I took a normal photo with my phone of the part first to have it in my gallery as well and uploaded it to my laptop.
2. Drag the Photo in a Chrome Browser
Open your files and drag the photo into the Chrome Browser.
3. Enable Google Lens
Check if Google Lens is enabled in the toolbar. You can check if the toggle is on.
4. Select Area and Search
Click on the Google Lens icon and drag the square over the area you want to search. Google Lens with start searching straight away after.
5. Review Results
It didn't give me the exact replacement immediately, but it provided a solid description and suggested suppliers I could contact.
It was indeed an IBC Adaptor. However, the connection size the AI suggested was not correct. I was able to read on the broken part it was 2 1/2 inch female thread.
But knowing it was a PP IBC Adaptor was enough to find what we needed. After an additional Google search, we found a supplier nearby that had the replacement part in stock, and the installation crew could continue the works!
Conclusion
Google Lens isn't perfect and didn't give me the exact part size right away. But it got me close enough to solve the problem fast.
In just a few minutes, I went from having a rough idea what the part was called to finding a local supplier with the exact replacement in stock.
For situations like this where you're stuck on site and need answers quickly, tools like Google Lens can be really handy.
It's free, it's built into Chrome and it takes just seconds to use.
Next time you're dealing with a broken part, an unknown component or anything else you need to identify quickly, give Google Lens a try. It might just save you time and money too!
