Automated system for evaluating consistency between CAD model and 3D scan of vehicle seat

Reducing the number of design changes in vehicle seat development is critical for minimizing both production cost and product lead time. Generally, discrepancies in measured dimensional specifications of vehicle-seat prototypes and computer-aided design (CAD) models cause significant quality control issues of the finished products. Although three-dimensional (3D) scanning technology enables the efficient evaluations and inspection processes of vehicle-seat prototypes, many evaluation processes require time-consuming tasks. This paper proposes an automated system for evaluating a geometrical consistency between a 3D scan of a prototype and the original CAD model. In the current study, the existing evaluation processes conducted by seat engineers were examined by survey questionnaires. The survey responses were analyzed to define a standardized evaluation process for the automated system. Various computational algorithms, including a function-based scan-to-CAD registration, standard seat dimension estimation, and template-based reporting algorithms, were developed to evaluate the scan and CAD consistency automatically. The developed system not only reduced over 99 % of the evaluation time (on average, existing method: > 2 hrs per seat and system method: < 5 min per seat) but also increased the repeatability of evaluations. Furthermore, the system can collect dimensions of diverse seat designs, prototypes, and products to construct a database of seat dimensions for benchmarking and design improvement.

Reducing the number of design changes in vehicle seat development is critical for minimizing both production cost and product lead time. Generally, discrepancies in measured dimensional specifications of vehicle-seat prototypes and computer-aided design (CAD) models cause significant quality control issues of the finished products. Although three-dimensional (3D) scanning technology enables the efficient evaluations and inspection processes of vehicle-seat prototypes, many evaluation processes require time-consuming tasks. This paper proposes an automated system for evaluating a geometrical consistency between a 3D scan of a prototype and the original CAD model. In the current study, the existing evaluation processes conducted by seat engineers were examined by survey questionnaires. The survey responses were analyzed to define a standardized evaluation process for the automated system. Various computational algorithms, including a function-based scan-to-CAD registration, standard seat dimension estimation, and template-based reporting algorithms, were developed to evaluate the scan and CAD consistency automatically. The developed system not only reduced over 99 % of the evaluation time (on average, existing method: > 2 hrs per seat and system method: < 5 min per seat) but also increased the repeatability of evaluations. Furthermore, the system can collect dimensions of diverse seat designs, prototypes, and products to construct a database of seat dimensions for benchmarking and design improvement.