Free-form surface reconstruction for machine vision rapid prototyping

Colin H. Bradley; Geoffrey W. Vickers

doi:10.1117/12.145064

1 September 1993 Free-form surface reconstruction for machine vision rapid prototyping

Colin H. Bradley, Geoffrey W. Vickers

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Optical Engineering, Vol. 32, Issue 9, (September 1993). https://doi.org/10.1117/12.145064

Abstract

Prototyping is an essential step in the manufacture of many objects, both consumer and industrial. A fundamental step in this process is the definition of the 3-D form of the object shape, for example, a designer's model created in clay or wood. A 3-D vision system (range sensor) offers the advantage of speed in defining shapes compared to a traditional tactile sensor. The viability of using range sensors is demonstrated by the development of a rapid prototyping system comprised of a laser-based range sensor and software that creates a computer model of the object. One particularly important area of application is the reverse engineering of models comprised of free-form surfaces. This is important in mold and die manufacture for aerodynamic and ergonomic object surfaces. Several methods of modeling free-form surfaces from irregular data are examined and a radial basis function approach is used in developing a self-contained, interactive software package utilizing the laser-generated range data.

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Colin H. Bradley and Geoffrey W. Vickers "Free-form surface reconstruction for machine vision rapid prototyping," Optical Engineering 32(9), (1 September 1993). https://doi.org/10.1117/12.145064

Published: 1 September 1993

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