Pulsed robotic inspection
DCFirst Claim
1. A method for determining at least one dimension, location or other characteristic of a part being inspected utilizing an optical sensor attached to an inspection machined, said method comprising the steps of:
- providing a read command signal to cause the optical sensor to begin sensing and, at essentially the same time, determining a first position of at least one axis of the inspection machine,determining a second position of said at least one axis when the sensor, in sensing the part, has accumulated sufficient data from sensing the part to provide a useful reading,determining, from the first and second positions of said at least one axis, data related to an intermediate position of said at least one axis between said first and second positions, anddetermining from a combination of said intermediate location data and said sensor reading, the characteristic of the part.
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Abstract
Robotic machines such as coordinate measuring machines, contour projectors and other optical measuring machines are provided wherein a pulsed light is used to "freeze" the dimensional or positional data. The light source of an electro-optical sensor which in motion on the machine during an inspection operation is pulsed responsive to a triggering pulse from an encoder. Where the motion is in more than a single axis, the triggering pulse can be provided from that encoder which experiences the most rapid motion or which is associated with the direction of the greatest dimension change of the part under inspection. Several different forms of position encoding apparatus are also disclosed.
64 Citations
4 Claims
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1. A method for determining at least one dimension, location or other characteristic of a part being inspected utilizing an optical sensor attached to an inspection machined, said method comprising the steps of:
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providing a read command signal to cause the optical sensor to begin sensing and, at essentially the same time, determining a first position of at least one axis of the inspection machine, determining a second position of said at least one axis when the sensor, in sensing the part, has accumulated sufficient data from sensing the part to provide a useful reading, determining, from the first and second positions of said at least one axis, data related to an intermediate position of said at least one axis between said first and second positions, and determining from a combination of said intermediate location data and said sensor reading, the characteristic of the part. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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Specification