A framework for laser scan planning of freeform surfaces

This paper proposes a framework that can be used for automatic planning of the laser scanning operation. Highly complex and freeform shaped parts are used in industry more and more; however, it is difficult to capture the par t accurately in a short rime using a conventional measuring machine. The te chnology of the laser scanner has been developed greatly and this machine c an now meet the requirements. There are few planning systems, however, that can support the scanning operation. The planning system proposed in this p aper considers various system parameters, such us depth of field, view: ang le, and length of laser stripe, to develop an accurate measuring plan. The algorithms in the planning system consist of two steps estimation of the in itial scan plan and a feedback routine that checks for the scanning constra ints and generates the final scan plan. The developed algorithms were verif ied by examining a part with Bezier surfaces.