ABSTRACT
Coordinate measuring machine (CMM) can be defined as a mechanical system that is mounted with the measuring probe to determine the point coordinates on the work piece surface. The advantage of CMM is that it enables the 3D measurement of the complex objects in minimum setups. In fact, the CMM plays a vital role in the mechanization of the inspection process [1], which is relatively a recent development in the measurement technology. It can be described as a very precise Cartesian robot equipped with a measuring probe, and used as a 3D digitizer [2]. The CMM produces a stream of x, y, z coordinates through contact or noncontact probes. The coordinate stream is interpreted by algorithms that support applications such as reverse engineering, quality control, and process control. The objective in the quality and process control is to determine whether the given object meets the design specifications, which is known as dimensional inspection. The CMMs are very versatile in their capability to record measurement of complex profiles with high sensitivity (0.25 μm) and speed.
