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

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. [DOI: 10.1115/1.3647877]