Error Compensation for Three-Dimensional Line Laser Scanning Data

Abstract

In this paper, the problem of compensation of 3D line laser scanning data for improved inspection accuracy is addressed. This problem is important, as a 3D line laser scanner is about one order less accurate than a touch probe. The approach taken is to compensate through error characterisation. In other words, a software compensation is performed, instead of a hardware compensation, which is probably more expensive. To do so, the errors associated with a 3D line laser scanning system are first characterised. With error characterisation, an empirical formula is obtained relating the errors to the influencing factors including the projected angle and the scan depth. This empirical formula is used to compensate for the digitised surface data obtained by the corresponding laser scanning system. The results show that the proposed approach effectively improves inspection accuracy.