An ensemble fruit fly optimization algorithm for solving range image registration to improve quality inspection of free-form surface parts

Free-form surface part inspection can be conducted by comparing an ideal design model with a real measurement model. Because these two models are in different coordinate systems, the measurement model, represented by a set of 3D points, should be consistently registered to the design model. The final aim of the registration is to determine the optimal transformation matrix. In this research area, the iterative closest point (ICP) method is the best-known algorithm for the registration of two point sets. However, the ICP method needs a good initial parameter to obtain the global optimum transformation matrix, which is difficult to guarantee in the actual inspection process. To improve the precision and robustness of complex parts quality inspection, an ensemble parameters fruit fly optimization (EFFO) algorithm is proposed in this study. This paper provides a parameter pool using the smell-based search process of a fruit fly swarm and sorts the individuals based on the fitness to identify the leaders in a vision-based search process. Additionally, an ICP-based initialization strategy is introduced into the EFFO. We compared the EFFO algorithm with other registration methods and some variants of FFO. The proposed algorithm is superior to other algorithms in terms of accuracy and robustness, and the experimental results show that the proposed algorithm is effective.