A General Framework of Measurement System Configuration for Large and Complex Components

Measurement system configuration or deployment is becoming an important issue in the technique field of large volume metrology. Almost all configuration works are task-specific and heavily rely on time-consuming and labor-intensive experiment on shop-floor. Furthermore, such configuration way is difficult to be carried out in the early stages (product and process design) of large complex product development because it is not based on the direct product model. Therefore, there is a strong need to establish optimal configuration model and to perform configuration simulation before the implementation of actual physical deployments or setups on shop-floor (online). This paper firstly presents a problem definition and a classification scheme for large-scale measurement system. Then a general framework and main procedures for measurement system configuration are proposed. The general framework is consisted of four tasks: (1) select instruments, (2) solve feasible space domain, (3) simulate measurement points, and (4) estimate and visualize uncertainty. The rough configuration performs the former two tasks to maximize the accessible volume, while the fine configuration conducts the latter two tasks to minimize the measurement uncertainty. Main algorithms involved with the procedures in the measurement system configuration are identified. A CAD-directed prototype for measurement system configuration has been developed to identify the suitable deployment solution for specific measurement task. An initial experiment study of a wing rib of airplane has demonstrated the effectiveness of the framework and methodologies.