3D Scanning for Advanced Manufacturing, Design, and Construction

Metrology Glossary

The following is a glossary consisting of common industry terminology used within the metrology community. This collection of words, phrases, and abbreviations will assist in your understanding of the book’s content as well as help you effectively communicate the concepts and workflows presented.

A

Accuracy

The closeness of a measured quantity to the actual quantity that was measured, the measurand. Sometimes thought of as a tolerance range on a measurement’s value. Often used colloquially as a synonym for uncertainty of measurement.

Alignment

The state or orientation of an object or feature with respect to a set of datums or the act of putting an object or feature into a desired state or orientation. Example alignments include setting several bearings supporting a shaft in a line (or not quite a line); mounting aircraft sensors in a specific direction with respect to an aircraft’s navigation system; boresighting weapons mounted on aircraft; best-fitting point cloud data to a set of surfaces.

As-built

Or the As-built condition. Refers to the actual dimensions of a part or assembly as it was manufactured. Also sometimes called “As-found.” In reverse engineering, as-built models or drawings do not try to divine design intent. They try to exactly portray a part exactly as it is, including defects.

ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange)

ASCII is an abbreviation for American Standard Code for Information Interchange, a standard data-encoding ...