Portable coordinate measurement machine with integrated line laser scanner

A portable coordinate measurement machine (CMM) for measuring the position of an object in a selected volume, comprising:

• a manually positionable articulated arm having opposed first and second ends, said arm including a plurality of jointed arm segments, each arm segment including at least one position transducer for producing a position signal;
• a rotatable probe at said first end of said arm;
• a laser scanner associated with said probe, said laser scanner being rotatable together with said probe;
• an electronic circuit which receives the position signals from the transducers and provides a digital coordinate corresponding to the position of the probe in a selected volume;
• at least one bus within said articulated arm for transmitting at least one of power and data signals to said laser scanner, said laser scanner including circuitry communicating with said at least one bus.

A portable coordinate measurement machine (CMM) for measuring the position of an object in a selected volume, comprising:

• a manually positionable articulated arm having opposed first and second ends, said arm including a plurality of jointed arm segments, each arm segment including at least one position transducer for producing a position signal;
• a rotatable probe at said first end of said arm;
• a laser scanner associated with said probe, said laser scanner being rotatable together with said probe, said laser scanner including a laser, a camera and on-board image processing circuitry;
• an electronic circuit which receives the position signals from the transducers and provides a digital coordinate corresponding to the position of the probe in a selected volume;
• at least one bus within said articulated arm for transmitting power and data signals to said laser line scanner, said laser scanner including circuitry communicating with said at least one bus;
• and wherein said on-board image processing circuitry comprises;
• a digital interface communicating with said camera;
• a digital signal processor (DSP) communicating with said digital interface for processing images from said scanner;
• a memory communicating with said DSP;
• and
• a communications processor communicating with said DSP.

A line laser scanner comprising:

• a housing having an exterior;
• a laser in said housing and communicating with the exterior of said housing;
• a camera in said housing and communicating with the exterior of said housing;
• a digital interface communicating with said camera;
• a digital signal processor (DSP) for digitally processing images from said camera, said DSP communicating with said digital interface;
• a memory communicating with said DSP;
• and
• a communications processor communicating with said DSP.