New solutions for industrial inspection based on 3D computer tomography

In recent years the requirements of industrial applications relating to image processing have significantly increased. According to fast and modern production processes and optimized manufacturing of high quality products, new ways of image acquisition and analysis are needed. Here the industrial computer tomography (CT) as a non-destructive technology for 3D data generation meets this challenge by offering the possibility of complete inspection of complex industrial parts with all outer and inner geometric features. Consequently CT technology is well suited for different kinds of industrial image-based applications in the field of quality assurance like material testing or first article inspection. Moreover surface reconstruction and reverse engineering applications will benefit from CT. In this paper our new methods for efficient 3D CT-image processing are presented. This includes improved solutions for 3D surface reconstruction, innovative approaches of CAD-based segmentation in the CT volume data and the automatic geometric feature detection in complex parts. However, the aspect of accuracy is essential in the field of metrology. In order to enhance precision the CT sensor can be combined with other, more accurate sensor systems generating measure points for CT data correction. All algorithms are applied to real data sets in order to demonstrate our tools.