Patent Application
20090306990
a. Field of Invention
The invention relates generally to vehicle coordinate measurement, and, more particularly, to a three dimensional vehicle coordinate measuring machine adapted to provide interactive audio prompts, and receive and interpret audio directions from an operator.
b. Description of Related Art
As is known in the art, a three dimensional coordinate measuring machine may be utilized to measure the three dimensional surfaces of components, systems and vehicles. Methods such as touch point scanning and laser scanning, as well as others, are presently used depending on the surface of an object for coordinate measurement. Three dimensional coordinate measuring systems generally include a system for gathering and assembling a number of points from an input device and mapping these points using a computer aided design software.
One such three dimensional coordinate measuring system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,590,060 to Granville in which
For automobiles in particular, three dimensional coordinate measuring systems exist for sampling a large number of points from both the interior and exterior space of an automobile. In such systems, as briefly discussed above, the points may be mapped by computer aided design software. Points may be measured relative to a known reference by means of a multi-axis articulating arm measuring device. Upon alignment of the device tip with the point which is desired to be measured, the position of the point with respect to an origin is calculated and stored. The software may be adapted with pre-programmed information to enable it to predict and interpret the point inputs received from the coordinate measuring device by reference to pre-programmed dimensional information. Since an article of which one desires to take coordinate measurements will often have a preferred sequence of taking measurements, the type of article, such as an automobile, may be input by the operator. For example, a pickup truck may require dimensions to be taken inside the cab, inside the pick-up box, and on the outside surface of the vehicle. These established measurement steps could be pre-programmed into the data acquisition computer program. The program would calculate which points and surfaces to prompt the operator to measure based on the type of vehicle or system according to a pre-programmed sequence.
For existing systems, the task of gathering such data is very time consuming due to the considerable number of points and surfaces required. Typically, the operator must reach into various remote locations within the vehicle to align the coordinate measuring device with the point to be input. After every such input, the operator must return to a computer or other such base station to receive computer prompts and input further information to the computer or base station. The laborious process of traveling between the measured point and the base station is undesirable, and significantly increases the time required to complete the task.
Moreover, physical scanning of the desired article is generally followed by post processing of data to identify what component or feature of a vehicle that each series of points and surfaces represent. Scanning of an entire vehicle for occupant accommodation and ergonomics purposes may require over fifty man-hours.
Accordingly, there remains a need for a vehicle coordinate measuring machine, which facilitates the coordinate measuring process, and reduces the man-hours required for scanning of a typical vehicle. There also remains a need for a vehicle coordinate measuring machine which is economical to manufacture, install and service, and which is further robust in design for long term use for a variety of vehicles.
The invention solves the problems and overcomes the drawbacks and deficiencies of prior art vehicle coordinate measuring machines by providing a vehicle coordinate measuring system including a coordinate measuring device operably connected to a computer, and a voice input device for receiving prompts from the computer and enabling an operator to transmit responses to the prompts to the computer, with the computer adapted to translate the responses to digital information. The coordinate measuring device may record and transmit point location data to the computer, and the computer may correlate the point location data from the coordinate measuring device with the digital information from the responses.
For the vehicle coordinate measuring system described above, the system may further include a voice output device which receives instructions from a pre-programmed scanning routine, translates the instructions into vocal commands or queries, and transmits the voice commands or queries from a speaker. In particular embodiments, the voice input and output devices may wirelessly transmit to/from the computer, the voice input and output devices may wirelessly transmit to/from the coordinate measuring device, and/or the coordinate measuring device may wirelessly transmit to/from the computer. The voice input device may be a headset including a microphone and a radio frequency receiver/transmitter, with the computer having a radio frequency receiver/transmitter. The voice input device may be a microphone connected to the computer. The coordinate measuring device may be a multi-axis measuring arm with a touchpoint tip for measuring tip location, or alternatively, the coordinate measuring device may be a laser scanner.
The invention also provides a method of measuring coordinates. The method may include programming a computer with coordinate measuring routines for known objects, providing a coordinate measuring system including a coordinate measuring device, voice input and output devices, and a computer, and querying an operator, through voice queries generated by the programmed computer, for a type of object. The method may further include selecting a matching object from known objects, querying the operator, through voice queries generated by the programmed computer, to measure at least one feature of the object, and measuring the at least one feature. The method may also include providing a voice command to the computer stating completion of the at least one feature measurement, providing a voice command to the computer stating completion of the object measurement, and storing measurement information by correlating measurement data from the coordinate measuring device with digital information from the voice command upon completion of the at least one feature measurement.
The invention yet further provides a method of measuring coordinates. The method may include providing a coordinate measuring system including a coordinate measuring device, voice input and output devices, and a computer, querying an operator, through voice queries generated by the computer, for a type of an object to be measured, and querying the operator, through voice queries generated by the computer, to measure at least one feature of the object. The method may also include measuring the at least one feature, providing a voice command to the computer stating completion of the at least one feature measurement, providing a voice command to the computer stating completion of the object measurement, and storing measurement information by correlating measurement data from the coordinate measuring device with digital information from the voice command upon completion of the at least one feature measurement.
Additional features, advantages, and embodiments of the invention may be set forth or apparent from consideration of the following detailed description, drawings, and claims. Moreover, it is to be understood that both the foregoing summary of the invention and the following detailed description are exemplary and intended to provide further explanation without limiting the scope of the invention as claimed.
The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate preferred embodiments of the invention and together with the detail description serve to explain the principles of the invention. In the drawings:
Referring now to the drawings wherein like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views,
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If the operator's verbal response to the computer's verbal query at step 54 as to whether the object scanning is an “object type routine” is affirmative, the system may proceed to step 70. At step 70, the computer may provide the operator with a list of object types (e.g., pickup, sedan, SUV, etc.). At step 72, the operator may state the type of object to be scanned/coordinate measured. Upon confirmation of the desired object, at step 74, the computer may proceed to verbally instruct the operator to collect data points from verbally specified features. At step 76, the operator may indicate when the measuring of the stated features is complete. At step 78, the operator may optionally instruct the computer whether scanning of the object is complete, with a negative response causing steps 74, 76 and 78 to be repeated, and with an affirmative response completing the scanning process at step 80.
To summarize, vehicle coordinate measuring system 10 thus facilitates the coordinate measuring process, and reduces the man-hours required for scanning of a typical vehicle by eliminating the requirement for an operator to, for example, reach into various remote locations within a vehicle to align the coordinate measuring device with the point to be input, and after every such input, return to a computer or other such base station to receive computer prompts and input further information to the computer or base station. System 10 thus also eliminates certain post processing steps of identifying what component or feature of a vehicle that each series of points and surfaces represent, since such steps are prompted during the scanning process.
Although particular embodiments of the invention have been described in detail herein with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to those particular embodiments, and that various changes and modifications may be effected therein by one skilled in the art without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.
