Feature inspection system

A feature inspection system, said feature inspection system comprising:

• a computing device;
• a tracking subsystem comprising a plurality of motion capture cameras positioned around a workpiece, said tracking subsystem determines a position of the workpiece to generate a workpiece coordinate system, wherein said position of said workpiece and said workpiece coordinate system are transmitted to said computing device;
• at least one tool having a plurality of retroreflective tracking targets connected thereto, wherein said retroreflective tracking targets are utilized by said tracking subsystem to determine a position and orientation of said at least one tool within said workpiece coordinate system by tracking said plurality of retroreflective tracking targets via said plurality of motion capture cameras, and wherein said at least one tool includes a handheld feature inspection device configured for conducting discrete scans of localized areas of said workpiece to generate measurement data including fastener head height data for each fastener within the localized area of each scan, the handheld feature inspection device configured to be positioned by a human operator in relation to the workpiece;
• wherein said computing device processes said position and orientation of said least one tool, and, wherein the at least one tool is the handheld feature inspection device, is further configured to:
• access a feature map comprising a plurality of predefined feature locations within said workpiece coordinate system, wherein each predefined feature location is associated with an engineering specification;
• identify one of the plurality of predefined features based on the determined position and orientation of the handheld feature inspection device, wherein said identifying is performed independently of the measurement data generated by the handheld feature inspection device because said identifying is based on said tracking of said plurality of retroreflective tracking targets by said plurality of motion capture cameras rather than on analysis of said measurement data;
• compare the measurement data from the handheld feature inspection device with the engineering specification associated with the identified feature to determine a conformance status;
• and
• generate, on a real-time interface, a graphical representation indicating the conformance status of the identified feature,
• wherein said position and orientation of each of said at least one tool is mapped within said workpiece coordinate system in a real-time manner.

A feature inspection system, said feature inspection system comprising:

• a computing device comprising a plurality of computers;
• a handheld feature inspection device configured for conducting discrete scans of localized areas of a workpiece to generate measurement data including fastener head height data for each fastener within the localized area of each scan, the handheld feature inspection device configured to be positioned by a human operator against said workpiece, wherein the handheld feature inspection device includes a plurality of retroreflective tracking targets relating to said at least one feature, and said handheld feature inspection device transmits said measurement data to one of said computers;
• a tracking subsystem comprising a plurality of motion capture cameras positioned around said workpiece, said tracking subsystem determines a position of said workpiece to generate a workpiece coordinate system, said tracking subsystem determines a position and an orientation of said handheld feature inspection device within said workpiece coordinate system relative to said workpiece by tracking said plurality of retroreflective tracking targets via said plurality of motion capture cameras, wherein said position of said workpiece, said workpiece coordinate system, and said position and said orientation of said handheld feature inspection device are transmitted to said computing device;
• and
• an augmented reality projector operatively connected to said computing device;
• wherein said computing device is configured to:
• access a feature map comprising a plurality of predefined feature locations within said workpiece coordinate system, wherein each predefined feature location is associated with an engineering specification;
• identify one of the plurality of predefined features based on the determined position and orientation of the handheld feature inspection device, wherein said identifying is performed independently of the measurement data generated by the handheld feature inspection device because said identifying is based on said tracking of said plurality of retroreflective tracking targets by said plurality of motion capture cameras rather than on analysis of said measurement data;
• compare the measurement data from the handheld feature inspection device with the engineering specification associated with the identified feature to determine a conformance status;
• and
• generate, on the augmented reality projector, a real-time graphical representation indicating the conformance status of the identified feature.