Inspection system for machine parts with three-dimensional characteristics

A new system for inspecting machine parts with three-dimensional characteristics is presented. The system consists of a binocular stereo mount, a three degrees of freedom positioning device and a structured light system. By means of an interactive interface the user may define the specific features to inspect, such as planes, holes, angles... and other aspects such as tolerance zones or reference systems. Our interest mainly focuses on improving inspection planning and accuracy in measurement. In the first place, based on the CAD model and the features to inspect the system automatically designs an inspection strategy responsible for managing the different resources involved in the inspection process. This inspection plan is based on basic geometric features of the model (called entities), the feature extraction algorithm employed and the physical bounds the inspection system imposes. On the other hand, provided that the aim of the system is to obtain the greatest possible accuracy, uncertainty propagation is performed throughout the measurement process. Feature extraction algorithms, model part positioning and camera calibration are evaluated in depth in order to obtain the most reliable measurement that hardware resolution may provide.