Volume Measurement of Machine Parts by 3-D Vision Sensor

Abstract

Volume measurement of automotive engine parts must be carried out with high accuracy. For quick measurement, these parts must be measured without covering the hole, because they have depressions with holes. A method for measureing the volume of these parts without covering the hole has been developed.
The developed method has the following three features:
(1) The volume is measured by scanning the figure of the object using a 3-D vision sensor with structured light.
(2) Based on the figure obtained from the 3-D vision sensor, a virtual lid is placed on the hole.
(3) For accurate volume measurement, the position of the virtual lid is determined from the design CAD data.
In order to measure the volume of automotive engine parts by this method, a new 3-D vision sensor has been designed. With the new sensor, we have constructed a new volume measurement system for the automotive engine parts. Using this system, a measurement accuracy of ±0.1% and a mesurement time of 5 seconds are obtained, which indicates sufficient performance for practice application.