Qualification of a 3D structured light sensor for a reverse engineering application

This paper deals with the qualification of a 3D structured light scanning system for an application of reverse engineering of a mechanical part. As this white light scanner is an electro-optical device and based on the principle of optical triangulation, the measurement accuracy is affected by the measured part geometry and its position within the scanning window. The effects of the scan depth and the projected angle, characterizing the surface normal of the measured surface to the scanning point of view, on the measurement of accuracy are not considered in the standard calibration process of manufacturers and have been identified by experiments in the present work. The digitization errors are analyzed and characterized thanks to a measurement protocol based on quality indicators. Theses quality indicators are evaluated thanks to simple calibrated artifacts. The aim of this work is to redefine the ideal relative distance and relative angle for minimizing the digitizing errors in relation to those stated by the manufacturer for a reverse engineering application.