Integrating Inertial Sensors With Optical Measurement Systems

Abstract

To date, a large variety of optical measurement systems have been used in the industrial field for geometric inspection. Some of these have been integrated into the manufacturing process. However, these systems still confront challenges with the development of digital and intelligent manufacturing. Several technical problems, such as the line-of-sight problem of laser trackers and relatively low frequency of indoor positioning systems based on laser scanning, must be solved for better performance in real production environments. Aiming at overcoming partial limitations in current optical measurement systems, this article introduces a new concept by integrating inertial sensors with optical measurement systems. The benefits are first illustrated. The key technology for correcting the drift effects of inertial sensors is then presented. Finally, the error-correction performance is tested by the integration of an inertial measurement unit (IMU) with a six degree of freedom (6DOF) laser tracker.