The hybrid contact-optical coordinate measuring system

This paper presents a hybrid contact-optical coordinate measuring system which was designed to measure and analyze the geometry of objects. It combines the accuracy of contact measurement regarding the identification of measurement points and the speed of full-field structured light optical scanning methods. The measurement process starts from fast optical acquisition by structured light system(s), positioned around the working space, then numerical analysis is performed to calculate a set of surface points that should be finally re-measured by the CMM. Both set-ups work in a common coordinate system created according to existing metrological strategies. Final metrological analysis is performed using classic, certified metrological software. In this paper we also describe the maximum permissible error of length measurement of the hybrid system. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.