Metrology of freeform shaped parts

E. Savio1 (2), L. De Chiffre2 (1), R. Schmitt3

Laboratory of Industrial and Geometrical Metrology, DIMEG - University of Padova, Padova, Italy
2
Centre for Geometrical Metrology, IPL Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark
3
Chair of Metrology and Quality Management, RWTH - Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

Abstract
The scope of this keynote paper is to present the state of the art in the metrology of freeform shapes with
focus on the freeform capabilities of the most important measuring techniques and on related metrological
issues.
Some examples of products are presented, for which the metrology of freeform shapes is important to
guarantee the desired functional performance of the product. A classification of freeform measuring tasks and
the corresponding metrological requirements are presented. A review of the most important measuring
techniques is presented along with their capabilities for freeform measuring tasks. Specification and
verification of freeform surfaces, including data evaluation and comparison to specifications are discussed,
along with the measurement uncertainty and traceability of freeform measurements.
Keywords: Freeform, Dimensional, Metrology.

when relevant, aspheric geometry will be explicitly

mentioned.
Freeform shaped parts are of great interest in many
applications, either for functional or aesthetical reasons.
Their relevance for industry is well-known in the design
and manufacturing of products having complex functional
surfaces [130] [150] [15] [16] [88] [93] [144] These parts
are important components in industries such as
automotive, aerospace, household appliances and others.
Functional surfaces may have a great influence on the
performances of a product; in the design of a
turbomachine, for example, freeform geometry for both
static and rotating components is of paramount
importance. Geometrical deviations in manufacturing
cause inefficiencies that can cause waste of large
quantities of energy. Design, engineering and testing of
parts having functional surfaces are key activities for the
development of products with better performances [123].
In the modern design of many goods, aesthetic is also
becoming more and more important for the market impact
of a product. This is a critical success factor especially for
consumer items where shape and appearance may have
more impact on the customer than function. Examples are
very common: car bodies, mobile phones and consumer
products in general.
Freeform shapes can be realised by many different
manufacturing processes, whose capabilities have been
improved for freeform geometry as reported by a number
of publications [15] [16] [88] [93] [14] [13] [29] [52] [168]
[98] [194] [125] [162] [11] [55]; most of these publications
refer to the metrology of freeform shapes as a
fundamental tool for both process troubleshooting and
quality control.
For some demanding applications, it is advantageous to
measure the workpiece during the production process; inprocess metrology allows improvement of accuracy and a
reduction of machining time [124] [155] through the
elimination of repositioning and alignment operations.
Another application in which the measurement of freeform
shapes is highly relevant is the so-called reverse
engineering, consisting in the creation of a computeraided design (CAD) model starting from a physical part;

Acknowledgments
The authors acknowledge the following persons who
contributed to the paper with suggestions, comments,
references and corrections (* denotes CIRP member): E.
Brinksmeier*, T. Bothe (BIAS, Germany), S. Carmignato
(Univ. Padova, Italy), G. Goch*, C. Evans*, R. Fisker
(3Shape A/S, Denmark), R. Henselmans (T.U.
Eindhoven, The Nederlands), R. Hocken*, D. Imkamp
(Carl Zeiss, Germany), J.-P. Kruth*, L. Monostori*, E. P.
Morse (UNC-Charlotte, USA), T. Pfeifer*, F. Puente*, H.
Wang (Carl Zeiss, Germany), A. Weckenmann*, X. Jiang
(Univ. Huddersfield, UK).
1 INTRODUCTION
Industrial manufacturing makes extensive use of simple
shapes for the production of goods, with many products
having a geometry that is a combination of planes,
cylinders, spheres and other simple shapes. These parts
are fundamental for the functionality of most mechanical
products and, in general, they are easier and less
expensive to manufacture than complex parts. However,
in some applications they are not adequate, for instance
when the functionality of the part is given by an interaction
with a fluid or a wave, as is the case of aerodynamics and
optics, for example.
In optics, a shape that is neither a portion of a sphere nor
of a cylinder is called asphere; the most commonly used
aspheric surfaces are axialsymmetric, since they are
easier to manufacture. In general, complex shapes with
rotational symmetry are also easier to be measured, since
the measurement may rely on the acquisition of few
profiles.
Freeform surfaces, sometimes called sculptured or
curved surfaces, may be classified as complex
geometrical features. According to ISO 17450-1 [81],
complex geometrical features have no invariance degree.
The invariance degree of a geometrical feature is the
displacement of the ideal feature for which the feature is
kept identical; it corresponds to the degree of freedom
used in kinematics. In the following, the term freeform will
be used only for surfaces without rotational symmetry;

Annals of the CIRP Vol. 56/2/2007

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doi:10.1016/j.cirp.2007.10.008

the procedure is based on data points measured on the

surface of the physical part.
The scope of this keynote paper is to present the state of
the art in the metrology of freeform shaped parts with
focus on the freeform capabilities of the most important
measuring techniques and on the related metrological
issues. For details on the measuring principles the reader
is referred to relevant previous CIRP keynote papers [55]
[41] [159] [66] [179] [31] [62] [28].
The paper is organised as follows. Section 2 presents
some examples of products with functional freeform
surfaces, i.e. products for which the metrology of freeform
shapes is important to guarantee the desired functional
performances; the last part of the section presents a
classification of freeform measuring tasks and the related
metrological requirements. Section 3 is a review of the
most important measuring techniques, with focus on their
capabilities for freeform measuring tasks. Section 4
addresses the specification and verification of freeform
surfaces, while Section 5 deals with data evaluation and
comparison to specifications. Section 6 discusses
measuring uncertainty and
traceability of freeform
measurements.
2 APPLICATIONS OF FREEFORM SHAPES
Freeform shapes are widely used in industrial production.
They are important in key industries such as automotive
(car bodies, 3D-cams, seals, gears, etc.), aerospace
(turbine
blades,
impellers,
fluid-dynamic
ducts,
aerodynamic parts, etc.), household appliances (water
pumps, fans, etc.), consumer products (mobile phones,
cameras, etc.) and others. The aim of following examples
is to illustrate the wide field of challenges for measuring
freeform shapes. The description of each example
delivers information about the industry it is applied in and
the function of the freeform shape, in order to address the
requirements for an appropriate measurement of parts.
2.1 Airplane wings and fuselage
Nowadays there are two main goals in the aircraft
industry; to increase the amount of passengers and to
reduce the consumption of fuel. To reach these goals, the
fuselage and wing designs are improved by the usage of
new materials like carbon fibre which reduce the overall
aeroplane weight and enable the development of new
geometries reducing the aerodynamic resistance.
Freeform measurement of the geometry is a key factor in
the development process as can be shown by two current
examples, the development of the Airbus A380 and of the
Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
Most important in the development of a new wing designs
is the measurement of the aerodynamic resistance, the
ascending force and the rigidity in a wind tunnel (see
Figure 1). Measurement of the rigidity respectively the
deformation of the wing enables the online measurement
of the coupled bending and twist spatial deflections [86].
Due to the dimensions, the tolerances during the
assembly of the whole aircraft are quite challenging in
terms of resolution vs. the overall extension. To reduce
the aerodynamic resistance, the structure, which consists
of several single parts, has to be even. So, the geometry
of every single part has to be known to enable the
assembly of the component. These subassemblies, like
the surface of airbrakes, the landing gear door or even a
whole fuselage section, need to be measured.
A most challenging problem is the fabrication of the
carbon fuselage segments as one single part in an
autoclave. One possible solution to rapidly gain a lot of
information about its surface and the geometry is the
measurement while the segment is fixed in a test bed.
However, as long as the segments are not assembled to

a complete fuselage structure the gravitational forces

distort the planned and produced geometry. So, one
measurement task is the calculation of the as-built
geometry of each sub-assembly out of the measurement
data [27].

Figure 1: Complete model of an A380 in the

German-Dutch wind tunnel in Emmerloord (NL) [138].
2.2 Car body parts
One of todays challenges to the global automotive
industry is owed to the fact that the success of the final
product not only depends on the engineering quality but
increasingly more on the emotional response it evokes
from a potential buyer [92]. In addition to this, ergonomic
and aerodynamic aspects are two other important
demands on automotive products. With the background of
rising petrol prices, streamlined car bodies which result in
economic cars are clear customers requirements.
Freeform surfaces fulfil the demand of appealing design
in combination with aerodynamic shape and ergonomic
properties [188].

Figure 2: Part of a sheet metal forming tool with

freeform elements.
A commonly used manufacturing process to produce car
body parts with freeform elements is the stamping
process. Fundamental components of stamping machines
are sheet metal forming tools (Figure 2), which makes the
tool and die making the key industry in the production of
freeform geometries. In order to guarantee the correct
shape of forming tools, it is necessary to digitize their
topography and compare it to a CAD model. Thereby the
challenging task is to choose the optimal metrology

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system, the right measurement strategy and optimised

data processing [69] [60]. Therefore the metrology system
should provide high quality coordinates in terms of high
data density on structures with high spatial frequencies,
and lower density on flat areas and the ability to detect
sharp edges precisely [50].

2.4 Optical parts

Aspheric and freeform optics offer significant advantages
over conventional flat and spherical surfaces. Examples
are found in many important applications, including
computational imaging, compact projection displays,
document security, curing of polymer dental filling
material, controlled diffusers for lithography, microscopy,
and many others [26]. The use of freeform shapes in
optical design can significantly improve the performances,
in terms of both system size reduction and improved
optical functionality (i.e. lower wavefront error). When
conventional optics are used, the optical system usually
dictates the mechanical design. By using freeforms, the
number of components can be reduced, the components
can be placed in mechanically favoured positions while
the optical quality of the system can still be increased
[122]. Their use is advantageous in many industries,
ranging from mass production of consumer products to
manufacturing of single special components for large
space projects. In the following, some examples are
briefly described.
One of the first examples in mass production is the
Polaroid SX-70 folding Single Lens Reflex camera shown
in Figure 4, which was on the market in 1972 [135].
Because of its peculiar off-axis viewing optical system,
two freeform optical components were used for distortion
correction in its optical design. One large free-form
surface, deployed on the eye lens, corrected for field tilt
and localized apparent power and astigmatic errors
across the viewed scene, relayed from a textured Fresnel
field mirror focus screen. The other free-form surface, a
small corrector plate located just at the real aperture stop,
mainly corrected the net coma and spherical aberration
common to all of the field. These two surfaces were
optimized along with an off-axis aspheric concave mirror
to provide a well corrected system [136].
Another mass production example is the optics of laser
printers. Until recently, their optical scanning systems
utilized several optical elements to form a system. By
replacing these with a single freeform mirror, the number
of components is reduced with corresponding benefits in
cost and size reduction. Further benefits include absence
of chromatic aberration and the ability to select any
wavelength of laser. Since the shorter wavelength laser
results in spot size reduction, the preciseness of printing
output is improved. Conversely, a long wavelength laser
can be used in a less expensive mass production printer
with the same freeform optical scanning system [29].

2.3 Turbine blades

Turbine blades can be found in a wide variety of industrial
products. Their field of application ranges from the mass
production of cooling fan solutions which can be found in
e.g. personal computers and turbo charger systems as a
part of combustion engines, up to the high performance
requirements of jet engine operation.
The use of blade shaped parts in turbojet engines can be
seen as one of the most challenging areas regarding e.g.
material selection and blade shape design. Over the last
20-30 years, alloy improvement, directional and singlecrystal solidification as well as the use of coating systems
has allowed an increase of gas temperature. This has
increased system strength and thermodynamic efficiency
along with reducing environmental pollutants.
The exposure to high pressure, temperatures up to
1400 C as well as the considerable stress caused by
rotation at more than 10.000 rpm, gives an impression of
the boundary conditions during a flight. Since the smallest
fault during the design or manufacturing process of such
a turbine blade can lead to a catastrophic system failure,
the implementation of all means of precautions available
is vital to ensure system reliability and blade integrity
without compromising economic aspects.
While FEM analysis and following optimization apply
during design, five axis milling is state of the art in the
production of delicate parts like the axial flow blisk
manufactured from a single part (Figure 3). However, the
need for quality control is indispensable to ensure the
safe and efficient whole-life operation of such parts.
In addition to the manufacturing, quality control methods
vary widely depending on part size, weight, feature
accessability and measurement task. Since Bladed discs
or Blisk, as a bunch of blades, are more complex then a
single blade, they also provide more challenges to
acquire the necessary measurement data. Use of tactile
probing systems is time consuming because of space
requirements for the movement between two adjacent
blades, which also overlap. Overlapping surfaces also
hamper most optical systems since a clear line of sight
and consistent illumination of the part needs to be
established. Also strong curvatures at the leading and
trailing edge can oppose quite a challenge for optical data
acquisition.

Figure 4: Cutaway view of the Polaroid SX-70 camera,

showing its decentred reflective Fresnel focus screen and
the unusual Single Lens Reflex light path [136].

Figure 3: Axial flow blisk

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directly into the pyramid structures. Every fibre works as a

miniature interferometric sensor. By applying a force F to
the membrane, the distance between the membrane and
the fibre tip changes. The change of distances in the
whole sensor array can be used to infer to a haptic
behaviour caused by the force F.
To allow for touching forces below 500 N, demands on
the accuracy of all parts of the sensor are high [165]. For
the setup shown, glass fibres with a diameter of 100 m
have to be positioned into a 400 m hole with a lateral
tolerance of +/-50 m. To guarantee a working sensor
device, also the vertical distance between tip of the fibres
and the bottom of the pyramid structure must be known .
To solve this task, the freeform of the bottom of the
pyramid structure must be evaluated accurately. This
results in a demand for metrology to offer suitable
solutions to measure the precise geometry tolerances.
Furthermore, suitable sensors are necessary that can
resolve the form of the highly sloped walls of the pyramid
structure while not deforming the soft silicon during the
measurement [36].

An example of a special project using freeform shapes for

a unique product is the NASA Infrared Multi-Object
imaging spectrometer IRMOS [192]. The optical design
includes four large, fast, off-axis, highly aspheric mirrors
and one off-axis concave biconic mirror [15] [14] [52]
[164]. The freeform mirror was introduced to help reduce
the size of the system by an order of magnitude [51].
Significant reduction in size can dramatically reduce the
use of exotic materials (such as beryllium) and the
ensuing mass reduction provide enhanced performance
for lightweight space systems. Freeform surfaces can
also be used to control astigmatism at multiple locations
in the field of view and thus reduce wavefront aberration.
In general, mirror freeform surfaces are more difficult to
manufacture and the inability of a designer to assess their
manufacturability has limited their use in optical systems.
Designers prefer to select rotationally symmetric surface
shapes for which the manufacturability issues are
understood, rather than specify a design based on the
properties of a freeform surface. For this reason, new
optical design tools [51] have been developed to improve
the manufacturability of these complex surfaces, in order
to keep costs under control.
Even with advanced design tools and ultra precision
manufacturing technologies, the required accuracy of
optical surfaces can often not be achieved in a
deterministic manufacturing process. Besides the
statistical variation of the machining process the least
changes in the boundary conditions lead to noticeable
form deviations. Therefore the manufacturing is
performed iteratively. Hence the accurate measuring of
the absolute shape of the surface is the missing key
factor in the value chain of freeform optics manufacturing
[122]. Even with efforts to establish machine integrated
ultra precise form testing, to enable an adaptive
manufacturing process [124] [155], the fundamental
metrology specific challenges for optical surfaces remain,
since the functional surfaces with their macroscopic
dimensions demand a very high accuracy in the
nanometre range. The dynamic range of the test
equipment is the crucial point in measuring optical
freeform shapes. Another important demand is that the
often delicate optical surface must not be damaged by the
inspection.

Pyramid structure
Micro membrane

Light fibre

Basic plane

Figure 5: Setup of a tactile sensor system (left), photo of

the micro membrane (right).
2.6 Classification of freeform shape applications
The above mentioned examples illustrate the range of
freeform applications and show, depending on the
industry, the function, the material and the manufacturing
process, the variety of measurement tasks and their
specific challenges. These characteristics define the
requirements for the technical properties of freeform
surface metrology.

2.5 Haptic sensor surfaces

The term haptic can be distinguished between tactile
perception and proprioception. While tactile perception
addresses the sensitivity for surfaces, proprioception
stands for perception of depths i.e. movements or
movement directions. Haptic perception, as the ability for
sensory perception of mechanical excitations, strongly
depends on the forces perceived during a touch [5].
A need for haptic sensors exists in many fields of
engineering. Intelligent haptic sensors can be used e. g.
in robotic applications to manipulate 3D objects or for
virtual reality applications in sensor actuator systems in
medical tasks. In robotic assembly systems haptic
sensors avoid damaging sensitive products by adding
artificial sensing intelligence [126]. In medical tasks,
haptic sensors can help to improve the work of surgeons
and also allow the design of intelligent prostheses [89].
A haptic sensor is not only used to evaluate freeforms but
it also contains freeform elements itself. An exemplary
setup is shown in Figure 5. The sensor system consists of
a basic plane with integrated monomode light fibres and a
joint micro membrane of silicon. The quadratic micro
membrane includes several freeform elements which are
similar to pyramids (see Figure 5, right). The micro
membrane and the basic plane have to be assembled in
such a way, that the light fibres in the basic plane lead

Profile tolerance

airplane
turbine
blades

mm

10 -3

10 -5

haptic
interfaces

car bodies 10 -7

optical parts
nm
mm

cm
dm
m
Part dimension

dam

Figure 6: Typical values of tolerances vs. dimensions for

the selected application examples.
A classification based on freeform part dimensions, shape
complexity, material, surface and tolerances can be
derived. Shape complexity is classified as low (e.g.
nearly flat, aspheric, limited curvature change), medium

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inspection are very basic: accuracy, speed and the need

for dedicated equipment.
With indirect comparison, the physical master template is
replaced by a computerised 3D geometrical model of the
part. The basic principle is to evaluate the degree of
deviation between the measured surface and the
computerised model, for instance the 3D CAD model of
the part. In the following, only measuring techniques
based on the indirect comparison approach will be further
analysed.
Depending on the application requirements, the most
suitable and cost effective measuring technique can be
selected among several available. The measuring
techniques that have been identified for discussion are
classified in the following categories:

Haptic sensor
surfaces

Optical parts

Turbine blades /
blisks

Automotive
body parts

Airplane
fuselage / wings

(moderate to large curvature changes, multi-facet

surfaces) and high (with undercuts, access/visibility
limitations, internal features). Concerning tolerances, the
classification is based on the relative profile tolerance
defined as the ratio:
tolerance / main part dimension.
The proposed criteria for classification are applied to the
above presented examples in Table 1, while Figure 6
shows a graphical representation of typical application
ranges for dimensions and related tolerances.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Part dimensions
large (100 - 102 m)
medium (10-1 - 100 m)
small (10-3 - 10-2 m)

Systems for large scale metrology

Coordinate measuring machines
Stand still optical systems
Interferometric systems
Profilometry
Systems for micro/nano scale metrology
Other systems

The proposed classification is quite arbitrary but it is

believed to be useful for an introduction to the subject.
The measuring systems are presented with focus on their
freeform capabilities.

micro (10-3 m)
Shape complexity
low
medium
high
Material, surface
hard, not sensitive
deformable
specular
transparent
opaque
Relative tolerance
medium (10-4 -10-3)
fine (10-5 -10-4)
ultra fine (< 10-5)
Legend:

typical
less frequent

Table 1: Summary of measurement requirements for the

freeform shapes presented in this section.
3 MEASURING SYSTEMS
Two general approaches can be identified for the
measurement of freeform shaped parts: direct and
indirect comparison [71]. The basic principle of direct
comparison is to check the degree of deviation between
the surface and master templates. In some cases, these
masters represent two-dimensional cross sections of the
surface to be inspected. The measurement of the gaps
between the surface and the template can be done with a
measuring microscope, or by bluing the surface to check
the untouched area visually, or using a concentrated
source of light. Figure 7 illustrates this approach applied
to the inspection of a turbine blade. While the results
achieved through direct inspection methods are
acceptable for some applications, they are clearly not
optimal. The problems common to many types of direct

Figure 7: The inspection process of a turbine blade based

on direct comparison with master templates
(Courtesy of Pietro Rosa TBM srl, Italy).

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contact and non-contact; automatic measurements of

thousands of points are easily performed, even on
complex surfaces. When the geometrical accuracy of
freeform surfaces is critical for the functional
performance, or for the appearance of a product, the
inspection process is typically conducted on CMMs.
Figure 9 shows a classical example: a CMM equipped
with a contact measuring probe while scanning a freeform
profile on a mould.
In freeform metrology it is fundamental to measure a large
number of points distributed on the surface to be
inspected. Scanning probing systems are today preferred
to touch trigger probes. Contact measuring probing
systems have been discussed in a recent keynote paper
[179]; they can measure up to 200 points/s at speeds as
high as 150 mm/s. Faster measurements are possible
with non-contact probing systems based on optical
principles like autofocus, triangulation and conoscopic
holograpy among others. Their advantages are, in
general, the non-contact nature of the measurement
principle, fast acquisition of a large number of points and
high degree of flexibility in measurement settings [22].
Details of the measuring principles can be found in [159]
[66]. High-reflective surfaces may be measured on CMMs
using e.g. a special triangulation optical probe [196] that
uses three incident beams, passing through polarizing
plates, so that specular light is eliminated to a large
degree and only the diffused light can reach the CCD
camera. Different practical solutions are available (see
[194] for a list of commercial products), with an increasing
market share of optical probing systems on CMMs
compared to tactile ones. Optical probing systems are
distance sensors that can be classified into three basic
types, depending on the number and position of points
that are measured at the same time: point sensors, line
(or stripe) sensors and area sensor. An example is shown
in Figure 10.

3.1 Systems for large scale metrology

The measurement of large parts requires techniques
capable of recording point coordinates with measuring
ranges of several meters; the most common techniques
are laser tracking interferometry, photogrammetry and
laser radar. Measuring principles, capabilities, limitations
and application examples can be found in a CIRP keynote
paper dedicated to large scale metrology [41].
The laser tracker measures the position of an
independent portable target that is manually positioned on
the surface of interest by an operator. Measurements can
be performed at rates as high as 3000 points/s while
moving the target, therefore high density profiles can
easily be scanned over large freeform surfaces. The
target is typically spherical with a diameter in the range
from 13 mm to 38 mm; special targets consisting of
portable probing systems, both contact and non-contact,
are also available [100]. An example of laser tracker
system with an integrated handheld laser scanner is
shown in Figure 8. The measuring process involves the
use of a high-speed camera, installed on the laser tracker
in conjunction with a laser scanner, containing a diode
array and a reflector; while the laser tracker determines
the exact position of the reflector, the camera determines
the position of the diode array in the photogram and, from
that, computes the spatial orientation of the laser scanner.
Photogrammetry is a technique in which the position of
points of interest is calculated via optical triangulation
from two or more two-dimensional images taken from
different locations. In industrial photogrammetry, the
measured surface is usually provided with physical
markers; the number of points measured on a freeform
surface is therefore intrinsically limited.
The laser radar is a measuring system in which a
broadband frequency modulated infrared laser (100 GHz
modulation) provides a robust and eye-safe signal for a
non-contact measurement capability up to 60 meters
radius. The main advantage is the complete automation
of the measurements process [41] [118].

Figure 8: Example of laser tracker system with an

integrated handheld laser scanner [100].
3.2 Coordinate Measuring Machines
The most important general-purpose instruments for the
inspection of freeform shapes in industry are Coordinate
Measuring Machines (CMMs), which can be equipped
with both contact and non contact probing systems.
CMMs are well accepted in industry because they are
very flexible and allow the measurement of points in
space with high accuracy. They are today typically
provided with numeric control and scanning probes, both

Figure 9 : Example of a CMM equipped with a contact

measuring probe while scanning a specular freeform
surface on a mould (Courtesy of Carl Zeiss IMT GmbH,
Germany).
Articulated arms and other systems
The mechanical linkage between a fixed position and the
probing system can also be provided by a series of

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In this case, the projector of the pattern takes up the role

of one camera. See [159] [32] [149] [148] [20] [186] for
additional details. Fringe projection has been also
implemented by different authors in combination with
other more accurate sensors; for example, the additional
sensor may provide a higher resolution measurement on
some region of interest [184]. Furthermore adaptive fringe
projection methods are currently researched in order to
widen the range of measurable surfaces conditions and
surface angles [33].
A typical measurement volume of a fringe projection
system is in the range of side between 0.1 m and 1 m,
with relative accuracy of up to 10-4. An example of a fringe
projection system is shown in Figure 11.

connected segments with encoders, called articulated

arm. Measuring volume can reach some meters in
radius. The device is manually operated and is portable; it
can be useful for the measurement of freeform shapes
with accessibility difficulties on-site, such as die cavities,
heavy equipment or simply parts that cannot be moved.
Both contact and non-contact probing systems are
available on commercial products [194].
Machine tools can also act as position systems for optical
sensors [146]. Industrial robots are another possible fullyautomated solution for the positioning of optical
measuring systems, as an alternative to CMMs, for
repetitive inspection tasks on production lines where the
need of accuracy is limited, i.e. for sheet metal
applications.
Other systems are available on the market for specific
tasks. Automated laser scanners with positioning and
rotating stages are common examples [194].

Figure 10: An example of optical probing system mounted

on a CMM: multi-stripe laser sensor
(courtesy of Metris, Belgium).
3.3 Stand still optical systems
Other techniques do not require a controlled displacement
while measuring and they can be classified as stand still
optical systems, such as the two techniques based on
structured
light
presented
in
this
section,
photogrammetry introduced in Section 3.1 and
interferometric techniques discussed in Section 3.4.

Figure 11: Example of measuring device based on fringe

projection. Photo (a) and optical layout (b).
(Courtesy of University of Brescia, Italy)

Fringe projection
Fringe projection is a technique in which the position of
points of interest is calculated via optical triangulation;
unlike industrial photogrammetry, in which the measured
surface is usually provided with physical markers, fringe
projection techniques measure surfaces without physical
markers.
Two approaches are distinguished [159]: the first one is
based onto the projection of a pattern on the surface and
at least two different camera views. In this case, the
pattern only serves to generate homologous points for
triangulation within the camera images. The second
approach evaluates the deformation of the pattern itself.

Fringe reflection / Deflectometry

A general limitation of fringe projection systems is their
inability to measure non-cooperative surfaces, for
example specular ones. In the fringe reflection method,
also called Deflectometry, a screen projects black and
white fringes onto the reflective surface; the reflected
fringe pattern is viewed by a video camera and analysed
by a software routine. Thus, the reflection angles can be
determined for every camera pixel and the local gradients
can be calculated with high lateral resolution. The surface
data are obtained by integration, with a vertical resolution
much higher than in fringe projection. Details on the

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and null-lenses is the loss of universality in the metrology

tool. A new surface geometry will generally require a new
null-lens [90]. Furthermore, null optics introduce
challenging calibration issues, and the accuracy of the
resulting measurements is notoriously difficult to validate.
Interferometric tests are also relatively expensive for large
parts, especially for non-concave parts because the
reference optics must then also be large [37].
The cost of null-lenses and the time needed to fabricate
are therefore not acceptable for most applications. This is
even more evident for true freeform shapes, which
obviously cannot be measured when the departure from a
sphere is not within the dynamic range of the
interferometer. Alternative solutions are presented in the
following, which extend the measurement of complex
surfaces to the sub-millimetre vertical range.

technique are available on [7] [9] [8] [10] [53]. Figure 12

shows an example of horizontal setup while measuring a
freeform mirror.
Deflectometric methods are suitable for the measurement
of high precision optics, and fast inspection of larger
parts, such as painted car bodies. Other methods under
investigation by several research groups are Moir
deflectometry or the Reflection Grating Method [85] [134]
[176] [143] [127] [128] [137] [94]. Deflectometry is also
advantageous for the measurement of surface curvature,
since only the first derivative has to be calculated. As
every derivation increases the noise, the deflectometric
methods have an unbeatable advantage compared to
other methods that capture shape data.

Computer Generated Holograms (CGH) Interferometry

Complex shapes including aspheres and true freeforms
can be measured using Computer Generated Holograms
(CGH) [112] [129]. CGH interferometry is based on the
use of a surface specific diffractive element added to an
interferometer, which changes a spherical wavefront into
a more complex wavefront, as illustrated in Figure 13.
The principle was first described by Lohmann and Paris in
1967 [107] and then used for testing complex optical
geometry [110] [17]. CGH masks consist of a planar
substrate covered with a diffractive microstructure
produced by lithography. Due to the recent progress in
lithography, it is possible to produce these diffractive
microstructures with very high accuracy [159]. CGH
masks are today commercially available [35] [3].

(a)

Spherical
wavefront

Projector

Aspherical
wavefront

Shape
under
Test

Interferometer

camera

CGH
Reference
sphere
Screen

Figure 13: The basic principle of CGH Interferometry.

A common arrangement for placing the CGH in the
interferometric setup is shown in Figure 14. An advantage
of this setup is that it can be used with commercial
interferometers without any need for modifying the
interferometer. However, in this setup the quality of the
CGH substrate (i.e. thickness variations in the hologram
plate) has greater influence on the measurement results.
Alternative setups with the CGH element located in nearly
collimated light can reduce this and other error sources.
Modern setups insensitive to vibrations have also been
described [17].
The most important error sources introduced by the CGH
technique are due to the manufacturing of the diffractive
element and to its alignment.
Manufacturing errors are related to the already mentioned
thickness variation and to the accuracy with which the
grating curves are drawn, the latter typically being the
single largest error source [139]. Alignment errors are
also important. Generally alignment marks, crosshairs,
etc. are placed on the CGH to help in both aligning the
mask to the interferometer as well as aligning the sample
to the mask. Since traditional methods of finding fringes
often do not apply for freeform surfaces, such tools are
indispensable for CGH metrology. Unfortunately, this also

Specular surface

(b)
Figure 12: Example of fringe reflection system: (a) picture
of an horizontal setup for small objects (see reflected
fringes in the freeform mirror) [7]; (b) a schematic optical
layout [94].
3.4 Interferometric techniques
Interferometric techniques are a well known solution for
fast measurement of surfaces with sub-nm resolution in
the direction of beam propagation [159] [66]. Form
testing of simple shapes like flats and spheres is typically
performed by imaging interferometry. Aspheres can also
be measured, using refractive or diffractive null-optics.
This becomes necessary because the dynamic range of
interferometers is generally insufficient to measure
aspheres with large departures from the vertex sphere.
The use of null-optics however does not only add cost but
also creates additional metrology problems and increases
measurement uncertainty. Perhaps the most problematic
aspect of aspheric surface testing using interferometers

-817-

The technique has been successfully applied to different

measurement tasks, including local radius of curvature for
high precision spheres [59], thickness of wafers [82] and
aspherical surfaces [106] [116] [43] [42] [61] [47] [59]
[121]. As a result, it is possible to extend the measuring
range of aspheric departures from a few micrometres up
to several tens of micrometres, with measurement
uncertainty better than 0.2 m [42]. The general
disadvantages of stitching are that measurements can be
time consuming and data analysis is cumbersome and
uncertainty may be difficult to estimate.

means that fiducials must be applied to the sample to be

measured [164].
Reference mirror
BS

CGH

Laser
light

Spatial filter

Interferometers as curvature sensors

Differential geometry offers curvature as a way to
measure form or profile. Measuring systems based on
interferometers as curvature sensors are being developed
at PTB [189] [40] [157] [158] and at NIST [90] [58] [111] to
measure complex optical surfaces up to one meter in
diameter, for which the form has to be known with
nanometre uncertainty and lateral resolution smaller than
one millimetre.

Test
shape

Image plane

Figure 14: Example of a common interferometric setup for

using a CGH as a null lens (adapted from [17]).
While CGH metrology has been recently improved and
extended for the measurement of true freeform shapes,
the techniques for doing so expediently and economically
are not yet mature. CGH reference masks may take
weeks to design and fabricate; they are also specific for a
single shape, therefore the technique is quite expensive.
Typical applications reported in literature are
measurements of ultraprecision freeform mirrors for
space telescopes [192] [164] [17] [3].
Sub-aperture Interferometry
Another method that has been used for many years is
sub-aperture interferometry [169] [25] [106] [116] [43]
[42] [61] [47] [59]. Several commercially available
instruments can automatically stitch flat surfaces,
although stitching complex surfaces is inherently more
complicated. The surface is measured in several
overlapping parts, or sub-apertures, that are within the
dynamic range of the interferometer. Accurate positioning
with multiple axes is required. Subsequently, the subaperture measurements are combined, or stitched
together, to give a form error map for the entire surface of
the part [90]. Stitching algorithms have been developed to
compensate for several types of error introduced by the
interferometer optics and stage mechanics. These include
positioning errors, viewing system distortion, and the
system reference wave [47].

Figure 16: Principle of the system developed at PTB,

based on a interferometer (IF) as multiple distance sensor
head, scanned along the surface under test by the linear
stage (S). A mirror (M) is mounted to the side of the
sensor head and an autocollimator (AC) measures the tilt
angle of the sensor head [157].

Figure 17: NISTs prototype Geometry Measuring

Machine (GEMM) [111]
The prototype developed at PTB employs a commercial
compact Twyman-Green interferometer that is scanned
along the surface by a low-cost linear stage. Additionally,
an autocollimator is utilized to account for angular

Figure 15: Example of measurement planning for subaperture stitching interferometry (adapted from [47]).

-818-

Scanning Force Microscopy is another important set of

techniques for micro- and nano dimensional metrology
[28]. Investigations on an Atomic Force Microscope in
measuring curved surfaces are available in [115] [113].

scanning stage errors (see also Figure 16). The

interferometer is modelled as an array of distance
sensors with constant spacing; it was shown in [40] that
the surface profile can be reconstructed with very high
accuracy in the presence of scanning stage position and
tilt errors and systematic offset errors of the measuring
head.
A similar project at NIST is developing the Geometry
Measuring Machine (GEMM), a 3D shape-measuring
instrument [90] [58] [111]. GEMM uses a commercial
Twyman-Green interferometer as a curvature sensor. To
move the sensor along the scan line, and position it
normal to the surface, a commercial Stewart platform is
used. Profile measurements of an elliptical mirror were
compared with measurements using a long-trace profiler,
a coordinate measuring machine, and sub-aperture
stitching interferometry; differences were within 20 nm.

3.7 Other techniques

X-ray tomography
X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) is emerging as a
powerful dimensional measuring technique. As no
competitive measuring systems exist in many cases, e.g.
for non-destructive inspection of interior surfaces or
parting surfaces of assembled parts, the field of
application of CT in industry is expanding from mere
defect analysis to dimensional and geometrical
measurement of products. On todays market, many
different industrial CT systems are available: from large
scanners with linear accelerators that can easily
penetrate 300 mm of steel and handling objects weighting
several tons, to portable systems with resolutions better
than 1 m for inspection of micro parts. Recently, new
metrological CT systems have been developed to be
used in substitution to classical CMMs or integrated on
multisensor CMMs [101] [6]. Fundamentally, a CT
scanner consists of an X-ray emitting source, an object
manipulator, a detector, electronics and computational
devices for data acquisition and elaboration. On scanners
with a line detector, 3D data acquisition is a time
consuming task: in order to get a full 3D data set one has
to scan a stack of single 2D slices (up to thousands of
slices). This task can take several hours to days. A much
faster acquisition can be accomplished if a 2D array
detector is used. A weak-point of CT is that, due to its
complexity, measurement uncertainties have not yet been
completely quantified. A brief overview on the main error
sources influencing the measurement accuracy was given
within a recent keynote [159]. Recent studies have been
conducted to assess some measurement uncertainty
contributions and to quantify the dimensional
measurement performances of CT systems [4] [19].
However, further work is needed to ensure full traceability
of CT dimensional and geometrical measurements.

3.5 Profilometry
In stylus profilometry, a stylus is drawn over the surface
and a transducer measures the vertical displacement with
resolutions that can be nanometric over a range of 10
millimetres or even more [31] [168]. The technique is very
common in industry for testing of rotationally symmetric
aspheric shapes for optical applications. Contact stylus
instruments with sufficient range to resolution that could
measure and analyze aspheric surfaces first appeared in
the 1980s [161].
The technique is well known and the wide acceptance of
calibration procedures for measurement traceability is one
of the main merits. Limitations are the measuring force
that can be unacceptable for delicate surfaces, the
maximum detectable slope and the difficulties related to
the exact location of profiles measured on a freeform
shape. Optical profilers can measure without physical
contact; however, the maximum detectable slope is
reduced.
An example of measuring device dedicated to the optics
industry is the Panasonic UA3P machine; it has a
measurement volume up to 400 x 400 x 90 mm, probing
force of 0.3 mN and laser interferometers for measuring
the displacement in 3 axis [166]. An example of on-going
development is the NANOMEFOS project, which aims at
developing a non-contact measuring device for freeform
optical surfaces up to 500mm diameter by 100mm height,
both convex and concave (slope max 45) with a target
measuring uncertainty of 30 nm [64] [65] [122].

Ultrasonic sensor
Measuring with ultrasound is a method which is widely
used to characterise the interior texture and detect
imperfections of manifold materials, especially of complex
or safety-relevant components. Ultrasound inspection
systems use high frequency mechanical waves with a
frequency of some MHz to several GHz. Basically two
different techniques are commonly used: the throughtransmission method, which relies on separate transmitter
and receiver probes for sending and receiving the
ultrasound pulses, and the impulse-echo method which
only requires one switchable transceiver.
Ultrasonic measurement results can be displayed as two
dimensional images which show plane cross sections of
the workpiece. Most commonly used for the visualisation
of scanned ultrasonic measurements are the so-called
B- and C-scans. The B-scan shows a vertical cut view of
the part, whereas the C-scan displays the interior texture
in a certain depth parallel to the scanning plane (see
Figure 18). When applied to a manipulator or a five axis
machine tool it is possible to save the ultrasonic
measuring data of the whole volume of even freeform
parts when the ultrasonic signals of the single parts are
put to a stack of B-Scans bitmaps without data loss [156].
Standard computer tomography (CT) software can be
used to visualise the scanned volume in three
dimensions, whereas the gray value of the voxels (volume
pixel) shows the intensity of the ultrasonic echos. By
saving all measuring data it is possible to generate and
evaluate offline any desired cross section of the part. The

3.6 Systems for micro/nano scale metrology

The measurement of form on small parts is really a
challenge. On-going efforts for the development of CMMs
suitable for these tasks are documented in [62];
miniaturised probing systems are described in [178] [176].
In connection to form measurements, the main practical
problems to be solved is the relatively lower accuracy of
microprobes when scanning curved shapes.
At the micro and nano scale, freeform shapes can also be
inspected
using
surface
topography
measuring
instruments. Presentation of the measuring principles,
typical instruments and related general metrology aspects
is available in keynote papers on surface metrology [66]
[31] [30] and micro/nano dimensional metrology [62] [28].
General limitations are to be found for measuring range
and maximum detectable slope, the latter being quite
important for highly curved surfaces.
Confocal Microscopy is an interesting tool for form testing
at microscale, since the maximum detectable slope is
higher that other instruments, and can reach 75.
Methods for the improvement of this feature on standard
optical profilers have been described [114].

-819-

Part dimensions
large
medium
small
micro
Shape complexity
low
medium
high
Material and surface
hard, not sensitive
deformable
specular
transparent
opaque
Traceability

Legend:

full match:
little match:

Table 2: Evaluation of some measuring techniques with respect to the classification proposed in Table 1.

-820-

Scanning Force
Microscopy

Confocal Microscopy

Optical Surface
topography & Profilometry

X-ray tomography

Optical CMM

Tactile CMM

Direct Comparison

Laser tracker

3.8 Classification of measuring equipment for

freeform geometry
Freeform surfaces are still representing challenging

Tactile Surface
topography & Profilometry

Figure 18. Ultrasonic scan methods [156].

Interferometry

Delamination
C-scan

Photogrammetry

B-scan

Fringe reflection /
Deflectometry

Fluid-jet ultrasonic probe

Fringe projection

measuring tasks, and the underlying manufacturing

technology relies to a large extend on the capabilities of
the metrological set-up that will deliver data from the
product or process to stabilize production.
Measuring systems for freeform surfaces are using a wide
range of physical phenomena to match the needs of
specific measuring tasks. The above mentioned
measuring examples may be compared to the
requirements which can be derived from the categories of
part dimension, shape complexity, surface conditions and
material properties such as hardness and transparency
(Table 2). Some techniques are better understood than
others in terms of traceability and this reflects in the last
row of Table 2; an indication of typical measuring
uncertainty is given in Figure 19, even though a general
reference for all measuring tasks cannot be derived, due
to the different fields of application. In fact more important
than just to understand the underlying physical
phenomena during the measuring process is to
comprehend the restrictions and boundary condition for
evaluating a geometric feature and the interaction of the
specimens properties with the measuring instrument, e.g.
bandwidth-limiting and thus resolution decreasing effects
whilst scanning a feature with a high shape complexity.

3D model can also be scaled according to the sonic

speed of material and the measuring point density.
Depending on the used CT software various geometric
measurements can be performed virtually within the parts
volume.

Coordinate Measuring Machines

Measuring uncertainty

mm

Stand still optical

systems

10 -3

nu

pu, v 

10 -5

10 -7

vj

cij

B u  B v  w
vj

(1)

ij

p is a point on the surface and u and v its location

parameters identifying the location of a point p within
the surface

nu and nv are the number of control points in the u

and v direction

Bui(u) and Bvj(v) are the normalised B-spline functions

in the u and v direction. Bui(u) is uniquely defined by
the order ku and knot sequence tu with ku + tu u-knots.
Similarly, Bvj(v) is uniquely defined by the order kv
and knot sequence tv with kv + tv v-knots

cij are the control points controlling the shape of the

surface and wij their respective weights. When all the
weights are set to 1, a NURBS surface becomes a Bspline surface.

Interferometric techniques
Systems for micro/nano scale metrology

cm
dm
m
Part dimension

ij

where

dam

Figure 19: Typical range of measuring uncertainty vs. part

dimension for different categories of measuring systems.
4

ui

i 1 j 1
nu nv

i 1 j 1

Systems for
large scale
metrology

mm

B u  B v  w
ui

Profilometry

nm

nv

SPECIFICATION AND VERIFICATION OF

FREEFORM SURFACES

4.1 Definition of nominal shape

Curves and surface geometry is the underlying theory for
the description of complex shapes. Traditionally, curves
and surfaces have been represented by multiple
orthographic projections. With the advent of computer
graphics and the rapid developments in the area of
computational geometry, surface modelling has become a
common feature of computer-aided design (CAD)
systems. Today, the nominal geometry of a freeform
shape is typically defined by a CAD model.
Mathematical representation of surfaces
Freeform shapes are typically described using parametric
surface representations [44]. Commonly used parametric
surfaces are Bzier, B-spline and Non Uniform Rational
B-spline (NURBS) surfaces. Parametric equations have
many advantages over non-parametric forms:
x

they are much more convenient to define and control

the shape of a curve or a surface;

their mathematical description is easy to express in

term of matrices and this allows the use of standard
computation subroutines;

curves and surfaces descriptions are independent of

any coordinate system, therefore the choice of a
coordinate system does not affect the shape of
surfaces;

Figure 20: Example of NURBS representation; u and v

represent the location parameters of a point on the
surface [97].
4.2 Tolerancing
The specification of tolerances on a freeform shape may
be given on the basis of the profile tolerances defined for
surfaces, with or without reference to a datum, available
from ISO 1101 [72].
Form tolerances restrict the deviations of the real surface
from the nominal shape only and have no datum; the
definition is as follows (see also Figure 21): The
tolerance zone is limited by two surfaces enveloping
spheres of diameter t, the centres of which are situated
on a surface having the theoretically exact geometrical
form. This definition of tolerance zone allows the
specification of form tolerances for any complex surface;
it is the least restrictive type of tolerance, since there are
no restrictions for location and orientation of the surface.
When the functionality of the part is dependent also on
the orientation and location of the surface, specifications
including datums are used; in this case the tolerance
zone definition is more restrictive, since it controls
simultaneously location, orientation and form deviations.
Other international standards of relevance are ISO 1660
(drawing indications) [74] and ISO/TR 5460 [78]
(verification principles and traditional inspection methods).
However, modern specification and verification concepts
are not yet supported for freeform surfaces by a well
defined normative basis nor a universally accepted
common praxis [117].

they are convenient for computer graphics software

and hardware in terms of speed, since the
computation of offset curves and surfaces can be
simplified.
Modern CAD systems describe complex geometry using
NURBS that represent the industry standard for geometry
description in CAD and Computer Graphics applications,
even though B-spline surfaces are also popular in
commercial modelling software due to their simpler
mathematics [190]. NURBS surfaces are a generalisation
of Bzier and B-spline surfaces. They are widely used for
the representation of freeform surfaces due to their
interesting properties such as the ability to handle large
surface patches, local controllability and the ability to
represent also simple analytical shapes such as planes,
spheres, cylinders, cones, tori, etc. A NURBS surface is
shown in Figure 20 and it is defined as [44] [190] [97]:

-821-

may be acceptable for slow measuring techniques. An

example is the measurement strategy for the inspection of
turbine blades on CMMs, based on high density contact
scanning of a limited number of cross sections.

Figure 21: Definition of profile tolerance not related to a

datum [70].
Figure 22: Example of sampling strategy based on
curvature, with a constraint on the maximum
distance between points.

A general issue in tolerancing is understanding the link to

functionality. This is particularly true in profile tolerancing,
since both the designer and the fabricator are more or
less working without knowing how much deviation from
the desired surface can be tolerated. Poor understanding
of the tolerances required for a given system, and
especially the inability to determine whether looser
tolerances will still provide the desired performance, tends
to drive up costs [28].

Different criteria for more general surface sampling on

freeform shapes are discussed in [2] and summarised as
follows:

4.3 Data exchange

The model of the part being inspected is typically used as
reference for the practical realisation of the measurement
program on computer-controlled measuring devices. This
process involves the exchange of geometric information
between CAD and measuring systems. Standardised data
exchange interfaces like STEP and IGES allow the
transfer of complex geometry including freeform surfaces.
However, there are limitations on the automatic transfer of
information such as tolerances. To overcome the
limitations of actual transfer standards, both proprietary
and neutral standardised interfaces have been proposed;
more information with a focus on coordinate metrology is
available in [131].
4.4 Measurement strategy
The inspection of a general freeform shape is normally
based on a uniform distribution of points over the
freeform surface, even though the definition of uniform
sampling is an open problem in mathematical terms even
for a sphere [145]. Most measuring systems based on
optical principles provide a high number of measured
points, with relative point spacing adequate for the
inspection of form. However other systems, especially the
ones relying on contact probing, have limitations in
measuring speed and may require a more intelligent
measuring strategy than uniform distribution of points
over the whole surface. In the following, some criteria for
the optimisation of the measuring strategy will be
discussed.

Uniform sampling in the u and v parametric

directions. The surface is broken down into a
rectangular grid, with even u-v spacing along the
whole of the surface. It is the simplest one, although
its efficiency is limited since it is not sensitive to
curvature change.

Curvature based. For example, local sampling

density may depend on a specified maximum chordal
deviation, this being the largest distance between a
line connecting any two adjacent points and the
surface. This criterion is therefore dependent on the
local curvature and allows a higher point density at
locations of high curvature.

Minimum sample density. It specifies the maximum

allowed distance between any two neighbouring
points. This criterion is useful in combination with
curvature based ones, to impose a minimum point
density for relatively flat surface portions.

Parametrisation-based sampling. The criterion is

based on the parametrisation of the surface; for
example, it specifies the number of points to be
sampled in each knot span.
Scanning probing systems may be optimised in terms of
measurement strategy. In [39] algorithms are proposed
for the identification of the optimal location of the
isoparametric curves to be measured on the surface.
For applications in which the data processing involves
interpolation of measured points, the optimised sampling
strategy is based on spectral sampling (e.g. Chebychev
sampling) to prevent interpolation problems known as the
"Runge phenomenon" [174] [12].
Adaptive measurements
An adaptive surface sampling strategy is presented in
[38], suitable for probing systems delivering both point
position and surface normal measurements. Using this
extended information and the nominal shape of the part, it
shows that an estimate of the form error can be made

Sampling strategy
Freeform shapes have continuous curvature changes; the
optimisation of the measurement strategy is typically
based on the curvature of the part to be inspected. Areas
or directions with smaller curvature have high density of
points, while in relatively flat areas a lower point density

-822-

measured points. The point cloud is first divided into

several subsets with a process called segmentation [175],
consisting of the identification of the various component
surfaces which meet along sharp or smooth edges; each
subset is then used as reference for the fitting process.
Fitting of a freeform surface to a point cloud can be
formulated as the creation of a NURBS surface in Eq. (1)
that approximates a cloud of m measured points within a
given tolerance [97]. The surface parameters to be
determined from the points are the B-spline functions Bu
and Bv, uniquely defined by their order ku and kv and
knots tu and tv respectively, the n = nu nv control points cij
and their weights wij. In the case of grid distributed points,
an interpolating surface can be obtained by choosing the
number of control points n to be equal to the number of
measured points m. However, in most applications an
interpolating surface is not desired, since it may not be
stable, due to the random errors contained in the
measured points. The number of control points will thus
be less than the number of measurement points and least
squares techniques are used to minimise the resulting
error between the NURBS surface and the m measured
points.
When fitting NURBS surfaces, a large number of
unknown definition parameters are to be identified. The
identification of all parameters at the same time would
yield a non-linear least squares problem. The fitting
procedure usually includes the following steps [108]:
1. Parameterisation of measured points.
2. Parameterisation of knots.
3. Applying least-squares fitting to identify control
points.
For general least squares surface fitting without
constraints, the knots can be set uniformly or by using an
average method [109]; automatic smoothing procedures
are also available [141].
Surface fitting, subject to boundary geometric constraints,
is required when the created surface has to be
incorporated into a CAD model consisting of several
surface patches that join with positional, tangential or
curvature continuity. Positional continuity, sufficient for
Computer Graphics, is clearly not enough for some
engineering applications, due to functional or aesthetical
reasons. Higher order continuity between adjacent
patches can be obtained by advanced modelling of local
parameters, as described in [97] [140].
Many other efforts on the improvement of surface
modelling have been reported, including integration of
surface representations in more general product
modelling frameworks [91] [170] [84], advanced surface
fitting techniques [190], efficient computation of curves on
surfaces [142], techniques based on neural networks [96]
[49], interactive modelling [102], adaptive measurement
procedures and integrated modelling [23] and
combination of data from different measuring systems to
improve the efficiency of the reconstruction process [18].

incrementally as sample points are acquired; therefore,

with appropriate stopping criteria the number of points to
be probed is defined.
Adaptive techniques for scanning probing systems have
also been developed. An example of adaptive scanning
described in [46] is related to the use of a laser scanner
for fully automated measurement of complex anatomic
shapes (like ear and dental impressions [1]); their
measurement is affected by the problem of uncovered
areas due to occlusion. Adaptive scanning is used to
perform additional measurements that scan the missing
areas until full coverage is obtained with no need for
expert knowledge for the creation of complex scan
sequences, tuning of scanning parameters or manual
stitching/merging of different scans. The first step in
adaptive scanning is to determine which areas are not
properly covered in the initial scan. Preferably this is done
by creating the surface model (e.g. by triangulation or
fitting of parametric surfaces) or determined directly from
the point cloud. Dependent on the application some
holes, such as the bottom of the object, might be ignored.
The full coverage stop criteria might be modified to
express other priorities, e.g.: holes under a certain
threshold are ignored, only a certain number of iterations
are allowed, maximal scan time or a certain overall
coverage is reached.
Probe path planning
Probe path planning for the measurement of freeform
surfaces has also been investigated. In [67] [2] [34] and
other papers the focus is on a general framework for
probe path planning for CMMs equipped with touch
trigger probes; the authors describe algorithms for the
extension to freeform shape of typical functionalities
available in computer-aided path planning systems,
including measurement simulation, collision detection and
optimisation of the probing sequence.
4.5 Measurement execution
When measurement strategy and planning have been
defined, the measurement of the freeform shaped part
can be performed using the selected equipment.
The basic result delivered by any measuring device is a
set of points that represent the measured surface. These
data, in some applications, may be used for the
reconstruction of a model of the part; in the next section a
summary of this optional procedure is given.
4.6 Reverse engineering
The design and prototyping of freeform shaped parts may
involve the use of physical models at some stages of the
design process. In the automotive industry, for example,
the initial conceptual design of a car body is often done by
stylists who formalise their ideas by making a clay or
wooden model. Similar examples can also be found in the
ship-building industry, aircraft industry and industries for
mould and die making where freeform shapes are
concerned [109]. In order to start or continue the
production process from these physical models, the
shape information must be transferred to a CAD system
as a CAD model. Since this process aims at the creation
of a CAD model from a physical part, it is called reverse
engineering in mechanical engineering, as opposed to
conventional engineering. While the latter transforms
engineering concepts and models into real parts, in
reverse engineering real parts are transformed into
engineering models [175].
Most of the proposed solutions for reverse engineering
are realised in two steps. During the first step, the surface
of the physical model is measured and typically a relevant
number of points, often called point cloud, is obtained. In
the second step, a CAD model is reconstructed from the

DATA EVALUATION AND COMPARISON TO

NOMINAL GEOMETRY
In the following section, the focus is on the postprocessing operations of the measured data and, finally,
tolerance verification.
5.1 Registration of multiple measured data
Some measuring systems are not able to measure the
complete freeform shape of interest in one single setup,
due to intrinsic limitations of the measuring principle or
practical and economical reasons. Examples are fringe
projection systems and laser scanners with limited

-823-

positioning and orientation possibilities with respect to the

part being measured. When a single setup is not
sufficient, multiple measurement views are taken with the
part placed in different orientations in front of the
measuring system, or vice versa. The relative alignment
of data points measured in multiple orientations is a
process called registration [175].
Registration of multiple views is based on overlapping of
measured information and different approaches have
been proposed. Hardware solutions based on multiple
sensors or accurate rotating/ positioning systems is one
possibility, although the cost increase may not be
acceptable for some applications. An alternative simple
solution is to add some reference objects (e.g. spheres or
other targets) in such a way that at least some of them
are measured in each view; the registration in then based
on the measured position of the added reference objects.
Many software solutions have been proposed for the
registration of the multiple views on the basis of
overlapping measured data only, with and without use of
the nominal geometry as a reference. This approach is
very popular in computer graphics literature, where
accuracy is not critically restricted. The preferred
technique is based on the Iterative Closest Point (ICP)
algorithm and its modifications [24] [197] [175] [103]
[178].

should stop when the objects of interest have been

isolated.
There are practical problems using many linear filters
(e.g. Gaussian) on freeform surfaces, since the weighting
function depends on the local geometry. Actually, the
definition of those filters on a freeform surface is still
unclear; using filtering, only e.g. on the projection to a
plane, will introduce distortions. The general use of linear
filters on a freeform surface is an unsolved problem and
part of current research. There are no similar problems
using Morphological and Segmentation filters [83].
5.3 Alignment of measured data to nominal
geometry
The alignment procedure consists of finding the
correspondence between the measurement coordinate
system and the nominal coordinate system of the part,
taking into account the type of tolerance to be verified.
In the case of profile tolerance related to datums with
simple geometry, the procedure is straightforward and
similar to common tolerance verification. Datums are
measured with an appropriate strategy and the alignment
is obtained using simple software operations for
coordinate transformation. In some applications, the
alignment of a freeform shaped part is achieved at the
measurement stage by presenting the part at a desired
position and orientation, using special tools, fixtures or
other physical alignment devices, totally dedicated for
specific products, on which datums may be established.
These devices are common in industry even though they
are not an optimal solution; they normally require
precision manufacturing for both the mating surfaces and
the reference features used to align the part located by a
precision fixture. This procedure is usually costly, due to
time and effort required to design and manufacture new
fixtures [197] [103].
When no datums with simple geometry are specified for
the profile tolerance, the alignment procedure is based on
the freeform shape itself. Software procedures are then
required for mathematically aligning the measured data to
the nominal model.
In general, two alignment steps are needed and may be
identified as coarse and fine alignment.

5.2 Filtering
Measured surface data require filtering operations for a
proper separation of form from other surface geometrical
features and for the treatment of measurement noise.
This applies also to freeform metrology, even though the
level of implementation of filtering operations is limited if
compared to other form measurements (i.e. roundness).
Today, most software tools for the analysis of freeform
measured data perform very basic filtering operations,
mainly for the elimination of outliers based on threshold or
statistical detection, and for the reduction of the number
of points in case of too large data sets.
Four classes of filters have been proposed by the recent
ISO 16610 series of standards [80]:
x

Linear Filters replace every point of the measured

data with a weighted average of points in its
neighbourhoods. An example is the Gaussian filter,
which provides a suppression of higher order
frequencies exploiting a smoothing function. Another
example is the Spline filter, which overcomes some
limitations of the Gaussian filter when measuring
curved surfaces [99].

Morphological Filters are based on mathematical

Minkowski operations, in which a structuring element
(e.g. rolling ball or sliding straight-line segment)
interacts in a given data set and modifies its shape.
Dilation and erosion are two fundamental
morphological operations. Dilation is the expansion of
the input set by the structuring element, while erosion
is obtained by shrinking the input set by the
structuring element [120].

Robust filters are tolerant to outliers, i.e. they are

insensitive to extreme points. These are effective in
particular when measurements are affected by
localized disturbances, or when external features
interfere with measurement operations. Forthcoming
standards on robust filters are going to encompass in
particular Gaussian regression and Spline filters.

Figure 23: An example of software based alignment

procedure: initial stage, before coarse alignment [193].
Coarse alignment
A coarse alignment is necessary for the practical
feasibility of those measurement processes based on
computer-controlled measuring devices, and/or for
providing an initial good approximation for fine alignment
algorithms. The coarse alignment is commonly provided

Segmentation filters are useful for dividing a

surface into its constituent homogeneous subregions. The subdivision level depends on the
problem being solved: the segmenting operation

-824-

Other alignment methods may be closer to application

specific requirements. For example, a weighted leastsquares procedure may be more cost effective for the
alignment of a freeform shaped part that has to be
repaired; different weightings are given to the measured
points, depending on the cost needed to eventually fix or
repair the associated actual points [96]; for parts to be
machined, another criteria for alignment could be the
maximisation of the minimum positive deviation, in order
to have enough material in all regions of the part.
Another alignment method is based the use of virtual
gauges for aligning specific points as required by the
application. Figure 25 shows an example.

by fixturing devices with a certain degree of positioning

repeatability or by software operations assisted by an
operator, depending of the measuring principle and
software in use. Figure 23 shows an example of initial
state for a software based alignment procedure, in which
a point cloud originated by an optical system is aligned to
the CAD model.
A general review of the literature related to alignment
procedures is available in [103] [68]. Methods for the
alignment of measured data to nominal geometry for both
contact and non-contact measuring technology are
discussed. In most of the published approaches, the
alignment is based on an iterative process; the ICP
algorithm is widely used also for this purpose.
A feature-based approach has been proposed [105] [104]
as an automatic alignment procedure of measured data
presenting no initial coarse alignment to the nominal
model. In the first step, both the measured data and the
nominal geometry are analysed and surface features are
extracted by an automatic segmentation process. Based
on curvature, points are classified in four basic shape
categories: concave, convex, saddle and flat. Extracted
surface features are defined as a group of neighbouring
points having the same shape classification. An example
is shown in Figure 24. In the second step, the extracted
features are evaluated to find possible corresponding
features. After further classification and evaluation, from
identified corresponding features, a set of feature centre
points is calculated for both measured and nominal data.
These two sets are then used to calculate the
transformation matrix for the coarse alignment of the
measured data to the nominal model.

Figure 25: Example of virtual gauging through virtual

callipers. In the case here represented, virtual callipers
are used to obtain the position of strategic points on the
edge of blades [70].
5.4 Evaluation of measurement
Common evaluation practice
The most common documentation of results is based on
a 3D coloured map of deviations from the nominal model.
As shown in the example of Figure 26, the CAD model of
the part is displayed with different colours, each colour
being associated to a range of deviations from the
reference surface. Statistical data is often provided for the
number of points out of tolerance, average deviations,
deviation frequency distributions, etc.
Visualisation of cross sections is also common for the
representation of nominal profile, tolerance zone and
actual profile with magnification of deviations.

Figure 24: An example of automatic surface feature

extraction [105].
Fine alignment
After the completion of the initial coarse alignment using
an appropriate method, other mathematical algorithms
may be used for the fine alignment. The nominal model
may be represented, in principle, by a set of nominal
points; the alignment process using measured and
nominal points instead of surfaces is faster, since the
mathematical representation is quite simple. However, for
the purpose of fine alignment, a nominal surface model is
a better reference than a set of nominal points, as already
demonstrated decades ago when specifications were
based on nominal points and normals only [182] [185]
[181] [56] [54]. Today, accurate metrology of freeform
surfaces is based on the comparison of measured points
to a nominal surface model.
The fine alignment can be calculated using different
methods. The least-squares method is aligning the
measured data set in such a way that the sum of squares
of the deviations from the nominal surface model is
minimised. This method is often the preferred solution
implemented on analysis software. However it should be
remembered that the correct evaluation of tolerances is
based on the minimum zone method, which better
matches the tolerance definition.

Application specific parameters

Deviations and associated basic statistics may not be
adequate for some applications, therefore special
purpose evaluation parameters have been defined. For
example, the measurement of turbine blade requires the
calculation of special parameters defined on cross
sections of the aerofoil, as shown in Figure 27.
Curvature evaluation is also important. Principal
curvatures, Gaussian curvature and other curvature maps
are useful in some applications to detect specific surface
defects [44] [163]. For example, in [87] the evaluation of
shape errors on freeform sheet metal parts was
investigated; the change in the principal curvatures was
used for local evaluation, while global evaluation was
based on aggregate normal vectors for the
characterisation of the representative directions of the
portion of surfaces.

-825-

An approach based on the separation of topography into

three global form deviations in proposed in [132], where
0th, 1st and 2nd order form deviations and related
parameters have been derived mathematically.
An example focused on local thickness measurements on
sheet metal parts is reported in [187]. The evaluation of
local thickness may be inaccurate, due to incorrect
calculation of surface normals as represented in Figure
28. The proposed Medial Axis Transformation method
allows the identification of the medial surface, on which
normals the local thickness may be calculated with
reduced uncertainty. The calculation method is meeting
the definition of the extracted median surface given by
ISO 14660-1 and ISO 14660-2 [73].

Figure 28: Error introduced by thickness measurements

based on surface normals [187].
6

MEASUREMENT UNCERTAINTY AND

TRACEABILITY

6.1 Error sources

The measurement of freeform shaped parts is a fully 3D
measurement, affected by the same error sources as for
other complex 3D geometrical features; therefore their
identification and quantification may rely on the same
evaluation methods. However, some additional errors
may be significant in freeform metrology and will be
discussed in the following.
Probe tip radius compensation
When using contact probing systems on freeform shaped
parts, errors may be introduced by incorrect calculation of
the correction for tip radius.
A common approach is illustrated in Figure 29 and
calculates the nominal point as a normal projection of the
measured point on the CAD surface. In most cases this is
acceptable, although additional errors come into play
when measuring surfaces with small curvatures in the
presence of form errors and misalignment between the
part and CAD model.
Figure 26: Example of map of deviations [57].

CMM probe

probing direction

nominal point (target)

nominal point (recalculated)

Figure 27: Example of application-specific parameters for

turbine blades, to be evaluated on sections: chord length
and angle, radius of edges, maximum thickness, rotation
and translations [131].

actual
point
CAD surface

Figure 29: Calculation of nominal and actual point.

-826-

An alternative approach is not to compensate probe

radius during CMM measurements but only after the
rough data have been collected and the coordinate
system has been well defined during data evaluation; in
this way the cosine-errors are minimized [95]. A possible
implementation is to calculate offset surfaces in the CAD
model and use the probe centre points for fine alignment
and eventually data evaluation.
Error sources with optical systems
Additional error sources may appear when using an
optical measuring system on a freeform object. The
surface characteristic itself dominates the uncertainty of
measurement, therefore its variation in terms e.g. of local
curvature may add uncertainty. Other common errors are
also induced by: the slope of the surface (which may
produce direct reflections to the detector), volume
scattering (e.g. for plastic material), or an inhomogeneous
surface texture. Secondary reflections, specular
reflections, volumetric scattering, colour transitions, or
ridges left by machining, may lead to gross systematic
measuring errors [147] [21] [20].

Figure 31: Example of virtual distortion compensation

using a FEM model with boundary conditions [180]
Software errors
The measuring and analysis software may be a significant
source of errors. The procedures for the registration of
multiple measured data, for example, quickly propagate
the measuring uncertainty found in a single measurement
view; a practical example is reported in [147], where the
measurement uncertainty after the registration of a few
multiple views is three times higher than the uncertainty
evaluated for a single view on a fringe projection system.
Other errors may arise from the procedures for the
alignment of measured data to nominal geometry, or in
the calculation of local or global evaluation parameters.
Data exchange is another potential error source.
Geometric data are frequently exchanged between
different modelling, manufacturing and inspection
systems. For example a sphere can be represented as a
quadratic NURBS surface, where in another system it
may be represented as a procedural type in terms of its
centre and radius. In a third system, the same sphere
may be described as a surface of revolution, specifying
the axis of revolution and a half circle as the cross
section. Some CMM measuring software systems are still
based on Bezier mathematics and they might not be fully
compatible with the current CAD systems. Translation
between Bezier and NURBS based systems can be
problematic and the continuity between the surfaces may
not be maintained. These error sources are particularly
significant for ultraprecision manufacturing processes [11]
[48].
Therefore, the verification of measuring software is very
important and some organisations are concentrating their
efforts on this part of the measurement process. Some
National Metrology Institutes are active in providing
reference data sets and services for the verification of
measuring and analysis software.

Deformation effects
The effect of forces due to gravity, measuring principle or
clamping operations on a deformable object may lead to a
significantly higher measuring uncertainty in freeform
metrology [183]. The deformation introduced by clamping
is more significant for freeform shapes, due to their
complexity.
Different approaches have been proposed for the
reduction of these effects. A functional approach is to use
a fixture that simulates the assembly of the part, as
shown in Figure 30. The limitations of this approach are
time and costs for the preparation of the fixture. An
alternative approach is to rely on rapid prototyping
systems for the preparation of a freeform dedicated fixture
with the same external geometry of the part being
inspected.

6.2 Performance verification of measuring systems

Performance verification is an important documentation of
the measurement capability of any measuring device;
standards and guidelines are available for the practical
implementation of performance verification tests on some
measuring instruments (e.g. the ISO 10360 series of
standards for CMMs) or will be available in the future (e.g.
national and international standards on optical coordinate
measuring systems, laser trackers, articulated arms, etc.).
In general, performance verification is based on the use
of calibrated artefacts, for which geometry is usually very
simple and restricted to simple shapes, i.e. planes or
spheres in different configurations. Such procedures are
therefore quite different from the typical use on the
measuring device when dealing with freeform shaped

Figure 30: Example of functional fixture for the simulation

of the assembly constraints on a flexible part [119].
A software based approach for the compensation of
deformation has also been described [180]. The freeform
workpiece is placed in the measuring volume of the
selected instrument with no special fixture; measurement
data is then corrected using a compensation method
based on a FEM model in which the forces acting on the
part are added as boundary conditions. Figure 31 shows
an example.

-827-

freeform surfaces, complexity is also increased by the

measurand itself.
The general model described by the Guide to the
expression of uncertainty in measurement [75] is difficult
to apply to complex measurement processes, and more
specific evaluation procedures have been developed,
especially for coordinate metrology [191]. Methods for
industrial level uncertainty estimation for almost any kind
of measurements using CMMs, and therefore for the
establishment of traceability of measurements in general,
are suggested in a new series of standards currently
under preparation (ISO/TS 15530); the only one
published, Part 3 [79], deals with the substitution by
calibrated workpieces. A new procedure, proposed as
Part 2 [76], describes how to evaluate measurement
uncertainty by performing measurements on the work
pieces, involving different orientations and measurement
strategies. Part 4 [77] will specify common rules for the
uncertainty estimation by computer simulation of the
measurement process [173] [171], while Part 5 will
provide guidance for the use of expertise in uncertainty
statements. In the following, a review of implementations
of these methods to the calibration of freeform shaped
parts is presented.

parts. Some examples of procedures and artefacts closer

to application found in literature will be briefly described
in the following.
Investigations on contact scanning are described in [151],
where calibrated cylinders and spheres have been
measured according to procedures called Cylinder test
and Spiral test; measuring conditions were similar to
those of freeform measurements, in terms of measuring
speed, point density and complexity of scanning path.
The use of cylindrical geometry has also been proposed
in the micro range; in [115], the cylindrical surface of two
optical fibers has been used for the vertical calibration of
AFMs. Sinusoidal artefacts, shown in Figure 32, have
also been proposed to evaluate the scanning
performances of different CMMs as a function of speed
and direction of the scan [45].

Figure 32: Example of artefacts proposed for tests on

contact scanning [45].
The proposed methods and artefacts may provide
additional information on the behaviour of instruments
when measuring actual complex parts. Their geometry is
not a true freeform; this allows low calibration uncertainty.
Freeform shaped artefacts are proposed in [160] for the
purpose of performance verification of optical measuring
systems. A general purpose sinusoidal shape, named
Doppelsinusflche, is shown in Figure 33, together with
an example of an application specific artefact.
The relatively high calibration uncertainty and
manufacturing costs are the main reported issues of
complex and freeform shaped artefacts; in addition, full
traceability of measurement results is not provided by
performance verification alone. The following section will
therefore focus on the available methods for uncertainty
evaluation and traceability establishment.
Figure 33: Above: example of general purpose freeform
artefact: the Doppelsinusflche. Below: example of
application specific artefact: the Shoe Model [160].

6.3 Methods to establish traceability

The evaluation of the measurement uncertainty, when
inspecting complex tolerances, is a difficult task and
common praxis is to underestimate its amount [63].
Traceability of measurements performed on coordinate
measuring systems (e.g. CMMs) may be guaranteed by
task-specific calibration methods [191], since no general
purpose calibration of those devices is possible due to the
complexity of the measuring process. When measuring

Use of calibrated workpieces

The procedure is based on the substitution approach and
requires a calibrated artefact similar to the parts typically
measured. Some examples are described in literature,
e.g. the already mentioned Doppelsinusflche and
Shoe Model [160], and the Bevel Gear Gauge,

-828-

proposed for the calibration of CMMs measuring bevel

gears [133], for which a synthetic gauge was built up
with basic geometric elements representing the freeform
functional surfaces of tooth flanks. The declared
limitations of the Substitution method are related to the
availability of artefacts with sufficient precision, stability,
reasonable cost and sufficiently small calibration
uncertainty.
To overcome these limitations, the Modular Freeform
Gauge (MFG) concept has been proposed [152], in which
the freeform surface is substituted by the surfaces of
simple objects, assembled in such a way that the shape
of interest is simulated as closely as possible. The MFG
concept has practical limitations with respect to feasible
configurations and similarity requirements; however, it
can help in establishing traceability as shown in Figure
34. An example of application to a turbine blade (see
Figure 35) [154], in which geometry has been substituted
by an assembly of a cylinder and two flat surfaces, was
used to evaluate freeform measuring uncertainty in the
order of 2-3 m for high accuracy CMM inspecting profile
tolerances using contact scanning.
Unit METRE
calibration of form
and dimensions
Single objects with
regular geometry

Figure 35: Example of MFG configuration (left) for the

uncertainty assessment related to the measurement of a
turbine blade (right) [154].

calibration and
verification of CMMs

Computer simulation
A modern solution for the assessment of uncertainty is
represented by the Computer Simulation approach [173],
but currently it has been implemented for simple features
only. In principle, the method may be extended to
freeform features, since the CAD model of the object and
the CNC measurement program well represent the
geometrical model of the measurement process. The
interaction of tip geometry, form errors, positioning
accuracy and misalignment should be taken into account
for extension of the method to freeform geometry.

Length-measuring
capability of CMMs

form and
dimensions of objects

relative position
of objects

Modular
Freeform Gauge
(MFG)

6.4 Classification of freeform calibrated artefacts

Some of the mentioned methods for performance
evaluation of measuring systems and for the evaluation of
measurement uncertainty rely on calibrated artefacts
having freeform geometry. Figure 36 shows an evaluation
of the examples described in the previous paragraphs, in
terms of dimensions and calibration uncertainty.

Experimental uncertainty
assessment procedure
(ISO TS 15530-3)
Actual freeform object
measured on the CMM

10 -3

Figure 34: Traceability of CMM freeform measurements

using Modular Freeform Gauges [154].
Calibration uncertainty

mm

Use of multiple measurement strategies

The draft ISO/TS 15530-2 [76] describes an experimental
procedure for the evaluation of uncertainty; the principle
is to randomly vary the uncertainty contributors from
measurement to measurement, changing measurement
point distribution and object position. The feasibility of the
method was also demonstrated for complex freeform
geometries, by calibration of local deviations from a CAD
model [172]. Experiments on various freeform parts
evaluated an uncertainty of 2-3 m for a high accuracy
CMM and 4-8 m for a medium accuracy CMM [153]
[154]. The evaluation procedure may be time consuming
and deliver overestimated uncertainty, but it does not
require freeform calibrated artefacts, special software or
expertise [172].

Application
specific artefacts

10 -5

10 -7
m
Fiber
artefact

Modular
Freeform
Gauge

nm
mm

cm
dm
m
Part dimension

dam

Figure 36: Dimensions and calibration uncertainty of

some examples of freeform calibration artefacts.

-829-

7 CONCLUSIONS
Freeform shaped parts are of increasing interest in many
applications, within the automotive, aerospace, household
appliances and other industries, where freeform geometry
has a great influence on the performances of a product.
They represent challenging measurement tasks for a
number of instruments such as coordinate measuring
machines, laser trackers, stand still optical systems,
interferometric systems and others including X-ray
tomography.
Tolerance specification and verification in connection with
freeform geometries rely on the use of a CAD model, with
a number of difficulties related to measurement strategy,
registration of multiple views, filtering, alignment and
evaluation.
Metrological issues related to performance verification
and traceability rely on the existence of calibrated
workpieces. However, in freeform metrology the main limit
of this approach is related to the availability of artefacts
with sufficient precision, stability, reasonable cost and
sufficiently small calibration uncertainty.
There is a clear need for other methods to ensure
traceability of measurements on freeform shaped parts.
One area that needs attention is software, in terms of
both calculation of evaluation parameters and data
exchange among design, manufacturing and metrology
systems, in which these operations may be a significant
error source.

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

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