Artifact-free coordinate registration of heterogeneous Large-Scale Metrology systems

Abstract Recent metrology-based manufacturing paradigms impose requirements to Large-Scale Metrology systems that can be realised overcoming individual limitations using multi-sensor architectures. Competitive and cooperative data fusion presuppose measurement systems with different incompatible targets having aligned coordinate systems. This paper presents a registration method neither probing common features nor requiring calibrated artifacts but using an uncalibrated bar equipped with two targets at fixed locations moving on a random trajectory. The underlying mathematical model allows calculating transformation parameters including analytical propagation of statistical uncertainties. Method and model are successfully validated by Monte-Carlo simulations along with experiments using laser tracker and indoor GPS.