Collision-Free Path Planning for Efficient Inspection of Free-Form Surface by Using a Trigger Probe

Abstract

Measurement path planning plays an essential role in on-machine measurement, which is often required to be time-saving and collision-free. This paper proposes a novel path planning methodology and develops an automatic collision avoidance strategy for measurement. Measurement points are generated by Contour section sampling (CSS), Grid mesh sampling (GMS), and Locally dense sampling (LDS) on the free-form surface. Afterwards, a shortest path algorithm (SPA) and a non-interference path algorithm (NIPA) are developed respectively. The simulations show that the proposed method can reduce the total inspection distance to nearly 7.82% than the original one. The presented path planning method can measure the surface of large aerospace parts directly by using a trigger probe.