Automated dimensional inspection

An automated dimensional inspection system having a sensor for capturing image data, comprising:

• a sensor planner adapted to receive three dimensional design data for a workpiece to be measured and operable to determine a plurality of viewpoints at which the sensor captures image data for at least a portion of the surface of the workpiece and translate the plurality of viewpoints into path data for the sensor, where the workpiece is modeled as a plurality of facets and the path data is indicative of a path for moving the sensor in relation to the surface of the workpiece;
• and
• an error map generator adapted to receive three dimensional measurement data for the workpiece and the dimensional design data for the workpiece, the error model generator operable to determine error data between the measurement data and the dimensional design data;
• the sensor planner further adapted to receive the error data from the error map generator and operable to identify facets indicative of a potential measurement error which are associated with a given viewpoint, evaluatethe given view point based on the identified facets and generate additional view points encompassing the identified facts, thereby modifying the path data.

An automated dimensional inspection system having a sensor for capturing image data, comprising:

• a sensor planner adapted to receive three dimensional design data for a workpiece to be measured and operable to generate path data in part based on the dimensional design data for the workpiece, where the path data is indicative of a path for moving the sensor in relation to the surface of the workpiece;
• a height map generator adapted to receive image data representative of a portion of the surface of the workpiece and operable to generator three-dimensional measurement data for the workpiece, wherein the three-dimensional measurement data serves as an input to the error map generator;
• and
• an error map generator adapted to receive the three dimensional measurement data for the workpiece and the dimensional design data for the workpiece, the error model generator operable to determine error data between the measurement data and the dimensional design data;
• the sensor planner further adapted to receive the error data from the error map generator and operable to modify the path data based in part on the error data.

A method for determining height information of a workpiece using a non-contact sensor, comprising:

• projecting a pattern of light having repeatable features onto a surface of the workpiece;
• increasing frequency of the stripes in the light pattern and decreasing width of each strip in the light pattern until the width of each strip substantially correlates to a width dimension of a pixel in the imaging device;
• correlating the repeatable features of the light pattern to a measure at which image data for the surface of the workpiece is captured;
• and
• determining a height measure for a given measurement point on the surface of the workpiece based in part on location of the measurement point in relation to the light pattern.

A method for determining height information of a workpiece using a non-contact sensor, comprising:

• projecting a pattern of light having a repeatable feature onto a reference plane oriented perpendicular to the light source projecting the light pattern;
• correlating the repeatable features of the light pattern to a measure at which the image data is captured;
• and
• determining a height measure for a given measurement point on the surface of the workpiece by determining a distance measure between two points on the reference plane, where a first point corresponds to the given measurement point projected along an image plane of the imaging device onto the reference plane and a second point corresponds to the given measurement point projected along a projection plane of the light pattern onto the reference plane.