This research entails the development, construction and testing of an advanced high speed metrology system. The major areas to be addressed by this project are: probe/surface contact dynamics, structural vibration, probe trajectory control, large scale data reduction, and determination of product quality for use in feedback to production systems. Contact dynamics will be improved by redesigning the probe's mechanical configuration, and the use of both digital and analog filters. Probe trajectory control will be achieved via high speed data acquisition and processing systems in conjunction with advanced control theory. Structural vibrations generated during a scan will be addressed by using optimally planned trajectories that minimize excitation and by employing typical control strategies for flexible structures such as feed-forward. Advanced statistical techniques will be used to reduced the large amounts of data generated by the scanning process. The results of the measurements will be used to determine both geometric deviation of the part and the quality level of the part and/or batch of parts being produced. This will enable users to determine the necessary modifications to machine tool trajectories to generate desired geometries. The results will also be used to analyze and improve production system capabilities.
