Metrologically significant software for evaluating the accuracy characteristics of ground-based laser coordinate measuring systems: initial assessment of functionality

An experimental analysis of the software used to calculate the coordinates of the centers of reference spheres using laser coordinate measuring systems was performed. It was found that the analyzed software of the manufacturers of laser coordinate measuring systems is redundant in functionality and is intended for the implementation of a complex of large scientific and educational projects, but is not intended to solve the problems of metrological support of laser coordinate measuring systems. The considered software examples are not metrological programs and require optimization for their use for metrology purposes. The problem of high-precision processing of measurement data (three- dimensional point clouds) when assessing the metrological characteristics of ground-based laser coordinate measuring systems was solved. Software (an algorithm for processing measurement results) was developed that allows determining the coordinates of the center of the reference sphere with a reserve of metrological accuracy sufficient for calibration by the main characteristic of measuring instruments such as absolute trackers and scanners. An algorithm implemented in the MATLAB software environment is proposed, which allows one to recognize a sphere from a set of measured spatial data and calculate the coordinates of its center location, thereby qualitatively assessing the main metrological characteristic of laser coordinate measuring systems. The results of an experiment using the proposed algorithm for calculating the coordinates of the centers of reference spheres included in the reference complex of three-dimensional measurements (coordinate measurements, coordinate increments) in the range of 0–60 m from the State primary special standard of a unit of length GET 199-2024 are presented. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm is confirmed by the results of real measurements. In the future, the developed algorithm will be included in the special software, which will find application in the work of standardization and metrology centers, as well as accredited metrology laboratories, and will allow us to come to a unified method for processing the results of measurements of absolute trackers, terrestrial laser scanners and their analogues.