Location tracking scanning method based on multi-focus in confocal coordinate measurement system

Abstract Confocal microscopy is high precision and widely used method for topography measurement. The surface height information is obtained by peak extraction of the axial response signal (ARS) which axial tomography of the surface is required. Therefore, when scanning large-diameter surfaces with a confocal coordinate measuring system (CCMS), the relative horizontal scanning trajectory (RHST) between the confocal sensor and surface is repeated and time-consuming step motion, which greatly increases the measurement time. To improve the scanning measurement efficiency of CCMS, we propose a new location tracking scanning (LTS) method based on multi-focus. In the LTS method, the RHST is a continuous linear motion during the process of axial tomography, and the horizontal motional surface is located and tracked through a series of focuses to restore the ARS. A generatrix profile of a spherical surface is measured to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method, and the results show that the scanning measurement time can be reduced by more than 90% without loss of accuracy of the profile measurement.