Flexible surface inspection planning pipeline

Efficiency of a visual inspection system is greatly influenced by the hardware configuration in terms of both arrangement and sensing parameters. Currently, the configuration is still determined manually. The available automated solutions are not yet ready to be integrated into everyday industrial use due to restrictions in applicability. Therefore, this paper offers a holistic approach to development and integration of an inspection planning pipeline which is both modular and application flexible. First, a clear distinction between the automated and semi-automated planning is proposed. Further, a set of requirements is established, ensuring system flexibility. The requirements are independent of the sensing technology and application. Finally, following the requirements, we implemented a semi-automated planning pipeline intended for visual inspection of rigid objects. For the first time, the pipeline introduces a flexibility in terms of object geometry, as well as interactive adaptation of planning results.