Noncontact measurement of rectangular splines shaft based on line-structured light

Abstract The rectangular spline shaft, a typical type of shaft-tooth component, plays a significant role in mechanical transmissions. Existing methods for detecting size and positional tolerance in spline shafts often rely on contact-based measurement techniques, including specialized gauges and coordinate measuring machines (CMMs). To enhance the measurement efficiency, this paper proposes a method for measuring based on line-structured light. Firstly, a classification algorithm for data points on major and minor cylindrical surfaces and keyway surface of spline shaft is established, contributing to the automatic measurement. Secondly, a coaxiality error measurement model is established based on the overall least squares method, improving the measurement accuracy. Finally, a measurement model for key width and positional tolerance is established through the rotation of the spline axis. In experiments, the size and positional tolerance of the spline shaft obtained using this method are compared with measurements by CMM, meeting the general machining accuracy requirements.