Computed tomography as a tool for industrial measurement

We present a prototype of a micro focus CT system that was designed especially for applications in metrology. The system comprises a high precision sample manipulator, a high resolution flat panel detector, and a stable micro focus X-ray source. Due to careful alignment and the choice of the hardware components the accuracy of the data is already very good. The accuracy is further enhanced using information from an additional shape measurement sensor. Furthermore, beam hardening and scattering effects are reduced through an automated artefact reduction algorithm. This leads to highly accurate CT data. We also present a software toolbox that allows automatic extraction of the object information as a triangulated point cloud. In addition, the toolbox provides tools for precise measurements of geometrical objects and for comparison of the measured data to the model data.