Coordinate measurements of free-form surfaces in reverse engineering process

This paper presents the issues of coordinate measurements of three-dimensional objects whose shape is defined with the use of parametric surface description methods applied in CAD systems. The paper also describes a mathematical as well as a geometrical presentation of surfaces used CAD systems, and discusses coordinate measurement techniques applied in measuring objects of this class. Further in the article, a practical implementation of the methodology of reconstruct- ing objects described with the use of free-form surface patches has been presented. The methodology includes subsequent object measurements and reconstructing the object’s geometric model, and concentrates on the possibly most accurate reconstruction of the shapes and dimensions of the researched object.