Automatic programming of coordinate measuring machines

This paper discusses a planner that generates automatically high-level programs (or plans) for inspecting mechanical parts with coordinate measuring machines. The system's input is a solid model of a toleranced part, and the output a collection of setups, probes and probe orientations associated with the surface features to be inspected. The problem is formulated as state space search. The state contains a collection of inspection plans, represented as a set of 4-tuples of the form (setup, probe, probe direction, surface feature). The initial plans may be invalid, or unnecessarily expensive. The state evolves through the application of operators, which impose geometric and optimization constraints so as to produce a valid and nearly optimal plan. The paper discusses the planner architecture and implementation, and presents experimental results.< >