Complete 3D measurement in reverse engineering using a multi-probe system

To meet the demand of measuring the complex prototypes completely in reverse engineering, a multi-probe measurement system integrated with a coordinate measuring machine (CMM), a structured-light sensor, a trigger probe and a rotary table is presented in this paper. The structured-light sensor is designed with optimal structure, and its model is established based on the CMM to simplify its parameters, this enables the sensor to be calibrated expediently at any condition. Three measuring modes are proposed considering the efficiency of the structured-light sensor, the high accuracy and flexibility of the trigger probe and the rotation of the table for finding proper scanning views. The structured-light sensor is usually applied to scan the profile of a part from different views, while the trigger probe is used to measure the edge and key features of the part. The data generated by different modes can be merged into a whole data body. The system possesses the function of obtaining the coordinate of nearly any point on a complicated part. Experiment studies on the accuracy of the structured-light sensor, data patch assembling and data merging show that the total accuracy of the system is ±0.033 mm.