| Title: |
Estimation of Surface Normals of Aerospace Fasteners from 3D Terrestrial Laser Scanner Point Clouds |
| Authors: |
Pexman, Kate; Robson, Stuart; Corcoran, Hannah |
| Source: |
Metrology , 5 (4) , Article 68. (2025) |
| Publisher Information: |
MDPI AG |
| Publication Year: |
2025 |
| Collection: |
University College London: UCL Discovery |
| Subject Terms: |
Laser scanning; surface normals; TLS; point clouds; aerospace manufacturing; quality control |
| Description: |
Measurement systems such as laser trackers and 3D imaging systems are being increasingly adopted across the manufacturing industry. These metrology technologies can allow for live, high-precision measurement in a digital system, enabling the spatial component of the digital manufacturing twin. In aircraft wing manufacturing, drilling and fastening operations must be guided by precise measurements from a digital design model. With thousands of fasteners on each aircraft wing, even small errors in alignment of surface covers to wing ribs and spars can impact component longevity due to aerodynamic drag. Determining surface conformance of airstream-facing surfaces is currently largely performed though manual gauge checking by human operators. In order to capture the surface details and reverse engineer components to assure tolerance has been achieved, laser scanners could be utilised alongside a precise registration strategy. This work explores the quality of the aerostructure surface in a captured point cloud and the subsequent accuracy of surface normal determination from planar fastener heads. These point clouds were captured with a reference hand-held laser scanner and two terrestrial laser scanners. This study assesses whether terrestrial laser scanners can achieve |
| Document Type: |
article in journal/newspaper |
| File Description: |
application/pdf |
| Language: |
English |
| Relation: |
https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10217224/ |
| Availability: |
https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10217224/1/metrology-05-00068-v2.pdf; https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10217224/ |
| Rights: |
open |
| Accession Number: |
edsbas.857D755C |
| Database: |
BASE |