An On-Line System for Identifying the Angular Orientation of a Class of Engineering Components

This paper describes the principle of operation and the development of a system for on-line identification of the angular orientation of a class of ``flat'' objects-the class of objects whose angular orientation can be uniquely determined by examining the features of the exterior profile or silhouette. The laboratory system described herein makes use of a digitized image of the component produced by a scanner camera fitted with a linear photo-diode array. By means of a dedicated computer equipped with direct memory access (DMA) capability, an algorithm constructs, so to speak, a circumscribed rectangular image, from which two geometric parameters are evaluated. The two parameters are used to determine the angular orientation of the components. This system has been demonstrated to be simple in design, fast in operation, and can be realized at moderate cost.