Non-contact method and system for inspecting a manufactured part at an inspection station having a measurement axis

A system for inspecting a manufactured part at an inspection station having a measurement axis, the system comprising:

• a fixture to support a part having opposite ends, a length between the ends, a width and a part axis, wherein the part has backside and frontside surfaces when supported;
• a motor to rotatably drive the fixture about the measurement axis at predetermined angular increments of movement during at least one rotational scan;
• a back light to direct a backside beam of collimated radiation at substantially the entire backside surface of the supported part at each of a first plurality of consecutive angular increments of movement wherein the backside beam is occluded by the supported part at each of the first plurality of consecutive increments of movement to create a stream of unobstructed portions of the backside beam in rapid succession passing by and not blocked by the supported part;
• a front light to direct a frontside beam of radiation at at least a portion of the entire frontside surface of the supported part at each of a second plurality of consecutive angular increments of movement wherein the frontside beam is reflected by the supported part at each of the second plurality of consecutive angular increments of movement to create a stream of reflected portions of the frontside beam in rapid succession;
• a lens and detector assembly to image and detect the streams of reflected and unobstructed portions at the inspection station to obtain electrical signals;
• and
• at least one processor to process the electrical signals to determine at least one geometric dimension and any visual defects of the part.