Laser triangulation in harsh industrial conditions

Laser triangulation is a well-established technique for three-dimensional measurement of surface topographies. In most cases, laser triangulation is conducted in clean and well defined operating conditions. Impurities such as cooling agents or dust from abrasive machining during component manufacturing can easily manipulate the measurement result. In this article, a laser triangulation measurement system is introduced, which can be used in harsh operating conditions during component manufacturing. The measurement system can deal with splashing liquids and other impurities such as dust. The adaptions compared to a conventional laser triangulation system concern the protective enclose of the system, the optical design and the data progressing algorithm.