Laser Profile Scanner Application for Micro Part Detection

Due to size effects production processes for macro parts are often not applicable to micro production. Especially the handling is more complicated. The approach to overcome these problems is to resize the parts to the macro world by producing them in linked parts. These structures use the base material as a substrate which keeps the micro parts interconnected. The small tolerances for micro parts demand a high precision positioning for the subsequent processing. An equidistant arrangement cannot be assured by the manufacturing processes. The micro parts must be identified within the linked parts by characteristic geometrical features and referenced separately with respect to the feed system. For this task the application of a laser profile scanner is investigated. For the data evaluation and the recognition of typical geometrical features a real-time capable algorithm with sufficient robustness against noise and measuring errors is developed. To validate the function of the algorithm test measurements are performed and compared to reference measurements done by microscopy.