OPTO-MECHANICAL METHODOLOGY FOR FEATURE DETECTION OF CONTOURS

Precise measurement of curvature is of critical importance in the aerospace industry. This paper presents a methodology for non-contact measurement of radius of curvature on the finished surface of manufactured parts. Unique optical methods including a Line Laser and a backlight are explored. In each case, a light source illuminates the features to be measured and several sets of high-contrast images are produced. For that purpose a low power (2mW) Helium-Neon (HeNe) laser source has been used. The images are processed using specific software and data points are mapped along the region of interest. A mathematical relationship is used to extrapolate the radius of curvature from the measured data.