Standardization News

A new task group within ASTM Committee E57 on 3D Imaging Systems plans to develop standards on position and orientation (pose) determination that could help increase productivity and enhance the global competitiveness of the U.S. manufacturing industry.The task group, under the jurisdiction of Subcommittee E57.02 on Test Methods, is currently working on its first proposed new standard, WK31638, Test Method for Evaluating Static Pose Measurement Systems.

Pose determination is one of the keys to advanced manufacturing," says Hui-Min Huang, mechanical engineer, National Institute of Standards and Technology.According to Huang, flexible automation relies on computerized sensing and perception to detect and recognize parts and other objects, such as humans and industrial vehicles, before automatic control actions are applied.

"Our planned standards, such as WK31638, aim at performance metrics for the sensors and the perceptions systems," says Huang. "Manufacturing facilities will be able to use these standards to properly specify their sensing and perception requirements."

Huang notes that manufacturers in the automotive, aerospace, shipbuilding and construction industries are among those who will benefit from the proposed standards planned by the new task group. In addition to these and other mechanical product producers, Huang says that sensor and perception vendors of both hardware and software will be potential users of WK31638 and other anticipated standards.

All interested parties are invited to participate in the task group as well as in standards development work throughout E57.

"We encourage all types of 3D imaging practitioners to participate: users, vendors, integrators or research and development," says Huang. "We welcome participants from private industry, the public sector, government laboratories and academia."'

CONTACT Technical Information: Hui-Min Huang, National Institute of Standards and Technology • Gaithersburg, Md. • Phone: 301-975-3422 • E-mail: hui-min.huang@nist.gov O ASTM Staff: Pat Picariello • Phone: 610-832-9720 • E-mail: ppicarie@astm.org O Upcoming Meeting: March 24-26 • In conjunction with SPAR International 2011 • Houston, Texas