New inspection planning strategy for sculptured surfaces using coordinate measuring machine.

The aim was to develop an effective inspection planning strategy for sculptured surfaces by using a Coordinate Measuring Machine (CMM). The optimum measuring point locations are first determined to obtain more effective inspection results for the given sampling numbers. The suitable measuring point locations are determined based on the mean curvature analysis and a constant called the Region Selection Ratio which is suggested to optimise distribution of the measuring points. As a next step, various methods are tested to determine the optimum probe path to minimize the inspection time and the measuring errors. The experimental results show the sculptured surfaces can be inspected more effectively by choosing a suitable Region Selection Ratio. Also, the inspection time can be reduced significantly by using the proposed probe path generation methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]