Automated visual inspection of geometric tolerance in circular components

In the manufacture of engineering products circular features are widely used. Roundness is one of the basic form errors encountered in circular features. The analysis of roundness error becomes crucial in the case of automated inspection. This paper presents mathematical models and algorithms to determine the roundness error in circular features using digital vision systems. Different approaches for determining out-of-roundness error are investigated and a proper approach is suggested. A methodology is proposed to determine the out-of-roundness error and number of lobes present in circular components. The proposed algorithm has been implemented and its reliability is reported in the paper