Computational stoning method for surface defect detection

Surface defects on outer panels of automotive bodies must be controlled in order to improve the surface quality. The detection and quantitative evaluation of surface defects are quite difficult because the deflection of surface defects is very small. One of detecting methods for surface defects used in factories is a stoning method in which a stone block is moved on the surface of a stamped panel. The computational stoning method was developed to detect surface low defect by authors based on a geometry contact algorithm between a stone block and a stamped panel. If the surface is convex, the stone block always contacts with the convex surface of a stamped panel and the contact gap between them is zero. If there is a surface low, the stone block does not contact to the surface and the contact gap can be computed based on contact algorithm. The convex surface defect can also be detected by applying computational stoning method to the back surface of a stamped panel. By performing two way stoning computation...