Feature-Based Product Model to Support Automatic Control of Geometrical Tolerances

The growing use of “augmented” virtual product models, which not only represent the geometric information, but also collect attributes, parameters, rules and procedures, can facilitate the digital simulation of many real processes. The control process of manufactured products can take relevant advantage of such technology. In this context, an approach for the automatic virtual inspection of geometrical tolerances, based on “Full of Information” 3D feature-based CAD models and non-contact 3D shape digitizing techniques, is proposed. The “augmented” CAD model encapsulates the designer functional specifications in terms of tolerances and methods to inspect them. The measured point cloud data report a detailed representation of the real product. Dedicated procedures and algorithms can allow to automatically evaluating the designer specifications comparing the two data model.