On the Enduring Appeal of Least-squares Fitting in Computational Coordinate Metrology

Published

September 6, 2013

Author(s)

Vijay Srinivasan, Craig M. Shakarji, Ed Morse

Abstract

The vast majority of points collected with coordinate measuring machines are not used in isolation; rather, collections of these points are associated with geometric features through fitting routines. In manufacturing applications, there are two fundamental questions that persist about the efficacy of this fitting - first, do the points collected adequately represent the surface under inspection; and second, does the association of substitute (fitted) geometry with the points meet criteria consistent with the standardized geometric specification of the product. This paper addresses the second question for least-squares fitting both as a historical survey of past and current practices, and as a harbinger of the influence of new specification criteria under consideration for international standardization. It also touches upon a set of new issues posed by the international standardization on the first question as related to sampling and least-squares fitting.

Citation

Journal of Computing and Information Science in Engineering

Pub Type

Journals

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Keywords

coordinate metrology, least-squares fitting, standardization, optimization, manufacturing, sampling

Citation

Srinivasan, V. , Shakarji, C. and Morse, E. (2013), On the Enduring Appeal of Least-squares Fitting in Computational Coordinate Metrology, Journal of Computing and Information Science in Engineering, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=907559 (Accessed May 15, 2026)

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