A method for edge detection of textile preforms using a light-section sensor for the automated manufacturing of fibre-reinforced plastics

The present work describes a new method to measure the contour position of plane reinforcement fabrics for the manufacturing of structural composite parts. The pursued approach uses optical metrology based on laser light-section technology. In detail, a laser line is projected over the edge of a fabric layer and acquired with a digital camera, which is located under an offset angle to the laser sensor. This leads to a distinctive displacement of the laser line in the acquired image, which is proportional to the distance between the sensor and the fabric layer. The distorted line can be described as a step profile, to which an analytical function is fitted to calculate the horizontal edge position with sub-pixel accuracy. To measure the whole layer position, the edges are scanned with the laser sensor to provide multiple contour points. This allows the interpolation of the object contour. The interpolated contour can be compared with the specified position and dimension of the textile layer. This enables a closed-loop control of the cutting and build-up process of the preform. Thus, an efficient production process of fibre-reinforced plastics through an automated inline measurement is possible.