A PC-based system integrating CMM and CAD for automated inspection and reverse engineering

A personal computer (PC)-based system integrating a manual CMM and a CAD system has been developed for on-line capture of 3D point data, resulting in the automation of the inspection process. The sequence of steps taken to measure a master component using the CMM is stored in a measurement program in 'teach mode' and replayed for repetitive measurement of a batch of identical components in the 'replay mode'. The measurement program guides the CMM operator regarding the geometric entity to be measured, the number of points to be input and the direction to be followed for taking the points on the CMM. The operator has simply to follow the sequence displayed on the computer screen. The program automatically computes the dimensions and the deviations from the corresponding dimensions of the master component. The 3D measurement data from the CMM are transferred to a CAD system in real time. Programs have been developed to create 3D cubic splines and surfaces from the 3D point data taken on the CMM. The full features of the CAD software can be used to manipulate the 3D point data for CAD applications.