An experiment was performed that integrated the visual system with the state machine. An appropriate DRFSM was generated by observing the part and generating the feature information. A mechanical part was put on a black velvet background on top of the coordinate measuring machine table to simplify the vision algorithms. The camera was placed on a stationary tripod at the base of the table so that the part was always in view. The probe could then extend into the field of view and come into contact with the part, as shown in Figure 6.
Once the first level of the DRFSM was created, the experiment could proceed as follows. First, an image was captured from the camera. Next, the appropriate image processing takes place to find the position of the part, the number of features observed (and the recursive string), and the location of the probe. A program using this information produces a state signal that is appropriate for the scene. The signal is read by the state machine and the next state is produced and reported. Each closed feature is treated as a recursive problem, as the probe enters a closed region, a new level of the DRFSM is generated with a new transition vector. This new level then drives the inspection for the current closed region.