Development of Real-Time Pipe Shape Measurement System Using Line Laser Imaging

As the plant, home appliance, and automobile industries develop, the importance of piping technology using pipes is increasing along with material technology.<br/>During the bending process, pipe products stretch and the bending curvature changes due to spring back after bending. Assembly errors occur because of accumulated deviations in pipe shape during the bending of pipes with multiple bending points. In this study, we developed a measurement system capable of capturing pipe shape information in real time during the pipe bending process. The performance of the system was quantitatively verified through 45° and 90° pipe bending experiments and comparative measurements conducted by installing it on a bending device. The results confirmed that the developed pipe shape measurement system exhibited a maximum measurement error of 0.178° in bending angle and 0.254 mm in vertex position.