( 1 ) Introduction

Inspection or testing is an act of checking materials,

parts, components or products at various stages of
manufacturing detecting poor quality manufactured
products for taking corrective action. Inspection is
performed before, during and after manufacturing to
ensure that the quality of the product is consistent with
the accepted design standard. The design standards are
defined by the product designer, and for mechanical
components they relate to factors such as dimension,
surface finish and appearance. The objective of any
inspection process is either to take actual measurements
of the values of the specified product characteristics or to
check whether specific characteristics meet design
standards.

When inspection and testing is carried out manually, the

sample size is often small compared to size of the
population. In high production runs, this size may be very
small which may result in slipping of defective parts. In
principle, the only way to achieve 100% good quality is to
use 100% inspection using which only good quality parts
will pass through the inspection procedure. But when this
is done manually, the problem of expenses involved and
error associated with the procedure is of major concern.
Automation of inspection offers an opportunity to
overcome these problems. Automated inspection
procedures are carried out by sensors that are controlled
by computers.

( 2 ) Computer Aided Inspection

Computer Aided Inspection (CAI) is a new technology that enables one
to develop a comparison of a physical part to a 3D CAD model. This
process is faster, more complete, and more accurate than using a
Coordinate Measuring Machine (CMM) or other more traditional
methods. An automatic inspection method and apparatus using
structured light and machine vision camera is used to inspect an object
in conjunction with the geometric model of the object. Camera images
of the object are analyzed by computer to produce the location of points
on the object's surfaces in three dimensions. Point-cloud data is taken
from a laser scanner or other 3-D scanning device. During a setup phase
before object inspection, the points are analyzed with respect to the
geometric model of the object. The software provides a graphical
comparison of the manufactured part compared to the CAD model.
Many points are eliminated to reduce data-taking and analysis time to a
minimum and prevent extraneous reflections from producing errors.
When similar objects are subsequently inspected, points from each
surface of interest are spatially averaged to give high accuracy
measurements of object dimensions. The inspection device uses several
multiplexed sensors, each composed of a camera and a structured light
source, to measure all sides of the object in a single pass.

Computers are used in many ways in inspection planning and execution

also.

( 2.1 ) Computer controlled inspection equipment

Coordinate Measuring Machine (CMM) is a 3-dimensional measuring
device that uses a contact probe to detect the surface of the object. The
probe is generally a highly sensitive pressure sensing device that is
triggered by any contact with a surface. The linear distances moved
along the 3 axes are recorded, thus providing the x, y and z coordinates
of the point. CMMs are classified as either vertical or horizontal,
according to the orientation of the probe with respect to the measuring
table.

Figure 36.1 Coordinate Measuring Machine (CMM)

( 2.2 ) Computer aided inspection setup planning

Computer-Aided Inspection Planning (CAIP) is the integration bridge
between CAD/CAM and Computer Aided Inspection (CAI). A CAIP
system for On-Machine Measurement (OMM) is proposed to inspect the
complicated mechanical parts efficiently during machining or after
machining. The inspection planning consists of Global Inspection
Planning (GIP) and Local Inspection Planning (LIP). In the GIP, the
system creates the optimal inspection sequence of features in a given
part by analyzing the various feature information. Feature groups are
formed for effective planning, and special feature groups are determined
for sequencing. The integrated process and inspection plan is generated
based on the series of heuristic rules developed. The integrated
inspection planning is able to determine optimum manufacturing
sequence for inspection and machining processes. Finally, the results are
simulated and analyzed to verify the effectiveness of the proposed
CAIP.

( 2.3 ) Computational metrology

Computational metrology deals with fitting and filtering discrete
geometric data that are obtained by measurements made on the parts.
Some basic facts about manufacturing and measurement are best
captured using following two axioms.
• Axiom of manufacturing imprecision: All manufacturing processes
are inherently imprecise and produce parts that vary.
• Axiom of measurement uncertainty: No measurement can be
absolutely accurate and with every measurement there is some
finite uncertainty about the measured attribute or measured value.
Fitting:- Fitting is the task of associating ideal geometric forms to non-
ideal forms (such as, for example, discrete set of points sampled on a
manufactured surface). Normally, Fitting is done for the following
reasons:
• Datum establishment: Datum is a reference geometric object of
ideal form established on one or more non-ideal geometric forms
of a manufactured part. Datums are used for relative positioning of
geometric objects in parts and assemblies of parts.
• Deviation assessment: It is often important to determine how far
 a manufactured surface deviates from its intended ideal geometric
form which can be quantified by fitting.
Fitting problems are broadly divided into two categories on the basis of
the objective function which is to be optimized. First one is Least
squares fitting, which has the objective to find an ideal geometric object
(a smooth curve or surface) to minimize the sum of squared deviations
of data points from desired object. Second on is Chebyshev fitting,
which has the objective to minimize the maximum deviation.

Filtering - Filtering is the task of obtaining scale-dependent information

from measured data. At a more mundane level, filtering can be used to
remove noise and other unwanted information from the measured data.
In the context of engineering metrology, engineers are interested in use
of filtering mainly for the two applications.
• Surface roughness: Many engineering functions depend on
roughness or smoothness of a surface on the piece. Designers
define bounds on certain roughness parameters to ensure
functionality of parts. These small-scale variations are subtracted
from the surface measurement data before form and other
deviations are assessed.
• Manufacturing process diagnosis: Manufacturing processes
leave tool marks on surfaces. By measuring surfaces at fine scale,
it is possible to detect tool erosion and its effect on the surface
quality.

The computational scheme used for filtering is one of convolution.

Two types of convolutions are in use;
• Convolution of functions: Filtering is often implemented as
discrete convolution of functions. In the most popular version, the
measured data is convolved with the Gaussian function. It has a
smoothing effect on the surface data.
• Convolution of sets: Morphological filters are implemented using
Minkowski sums. These can be regarded as convolutions where
the input set is convolved with a circular or flat structuring
 element.

( 2.4 ) Computer aided part localization and Shape

Matching
Many a times in inspection process comparison of shapes of two
geometric entities is done. Shape matching can be used for comparison
of shapes of two geometric entities. For example comparison of shapes
between designed model and molded part. Shape localization is done
with the help of transformations. Transformations can be translation and
rotations. Shape matching can be broadly classified as
• Curve-Curve Matching
• Surface-Surface Matching
• Solid-Solid Matching
• Matching curve, surface or solid with point data set
 Figure 36.2: Shape Localization and matching of two curves

Shape matching is used for many applications like character recognition,

object recognition, medical imaging, etc. The same concept can be
extended in the inspection of mechanical parts. In shape matching, the
manufactured part is located with respect to designed part and error is
measured. In character reorganization, characters are fitted with smooth
curves and then matched with predefined templates.

Figure 36.3: Shape matching

( 3 ) Benefits of CAI

• The CAI process saves both time and money.

• The computer software processes data from a 3-D point cloud
from a laser scanner, eliminating the need for slower and more
time-consuming CMM measurements.
• Inspecting with CMMs requires that designers create a 2-D
drawing in addition to the 3-D CAD model of a part. The drawing
is used to inspect the part at specific locations to verify that it
matches the design. Point-cloud data is taken from a laser scanner
or other 3-D scanning device. The software provides a graphical
comparison of the manufactured part compared to the CAD model.
• By producing point clouds of the entire part, measurement of the
part can be done everywhere and not be limited to the specific
locations on a drawing.