3-DIMENSIONAL SURFACE MEASUREMENT USING LIGHT-SCATTERING

The paper starts by defining the convenience and usefulness of surface finish measurement using light scattering. A rig is then described in which the light scattered from engineering surfaces is collected by a colour CCD camera. The shape of the scattered light blob changes not only with surface finish but also with the process used. A technique i s described in which sections through the light intensity blob are cla ssified by artificial intelligence techniques. This allows surfaces to be classified with respect to surface finish as well as texture.