Enhancing multisensor data fusion on light sectioning coordinate measuring systems for the in-process inspection of freeform shaped parts

[Display omitted] •Automatic determination of sensor pose in multisensor laser triangulation CMS.•5-Times better registration of sensors w.r.t. optimized adjustment by manual methods.•Quantification of the effects of influencing parameters using simulations. A method for automatic determination of sensors positions and orientations in multisensor laser triangulation coordinate measuring systems is presented. Based on a series of measurements on a conical artifact without the use of external light sources, the approach allows for both optimized adjustment of the physical sensors alignment and improved 3D data registration by software. Simulations were conducted to quantify the sensitivity of the method. Experimental results based on measurements of steep details of complex shaped parts show a 5-times reduction of deviations between measurements of sensors with respect to an already optimized adjustment by manual methods.