Automation and control of a multi-sensor measuring system for quality inspection of technical surfaces

The automation and motion control aspects of a developed multi-sensor measuring system are described in this contribution. The measuring system is designed to automatically detect and survey surface defects of microscopic size on macroscopic mechanical components. It is based on the hierarchical combination of optical sensors with different working ranges and resolutions. This measurement approach requires a high level of automation to perform the inspection and measurement tasks. From a control engineering point of view, the path planning and trajectory generation as well as the high-accuracy motion control and friction compensation system are particularly challenging and compose the focus of this contribution.