File Types

The various file types used by SScanSS 2 are described below.

Fiducial point file (.fiducial)

The .fiducial file is a comma or space delimited text file. The file must contain three columns representing the X, Y, Z coordinates of the fiducial point and an optional fourth row which specifies enabled status. All point are enabled by default if not explicitly disabled.

A comma delimited example with all points enabled:

0.0000000,  0.0000000,      0.0000000
0.0000000,  10.0000000,     0.0000000
0.0000000,  -10.0000000,    0.0000000

A space delimited example with 1st and 3rd point enabled:

0.0000000   0.0000000       0.0000000
0.0000000   10.0000000      0.0000000       False
0.0000000   -10.0000000     0.0000000       True

Measurement file (.measurement)

The .measurement file is a comma or space delimited text file with the exact same structure as the Fiducial point file (.fiducial).

Measurement vector file (.vecs)

The .vecs file is a is a simple comma or space delimited text file of the form:

x11 y11 z11 . . . x1N y1N z1N
x21 y21 z21 . . . x2N y2N z2N
:
xM1 yM1 zM1 . . . xMN yMN zMN

Where “M” is the number of measurement points and “N” is the number of detectors. The example file below will setup strain component or measurement vectors aligned in the +X and –Z directions for a two detector instrument at 4 measurement points.:

1.0000000 0.0000000 0.0000000 -0.0000000 -0.0000000 -1.0000000
1.0000000 0.0000000 0.0000000 -0.0000000 -0.0000000 -1.0000000
1.0000000 0.0000000 0.0000000 -0.0000000 -0.0000000 -1.0000000
1.0000000 0.0000000 0.0000000 -0.0000000 -0.0000000 -1.0000000

Append more vectors to the end of the file to add secondary vector alignments. When the number of measurement vectors are greater than the number of measurement points, the extra vectors will be considered as secondary vector alignments. Measurement vectors must be zero vectors or have a magnitude of 1 accurate to 7 decimal digits to be valid.

Euler angle file (.angles)

The .angles file is a is a simple comma or space delimited text file of the form:

xyz
x1 y1 z1
x2 y2 z2
:
xM yM zM

Where “M” is the number of angles, the header is a string that indicates the order of the angles (“xyz” and “zyx” are supported), and “xi yi zi” are the euler angles in degrees in the order specified in the header. With the example file below, measurement vectors can be created using Euler angles.:

zyx
-30.0 35.0 0.0
-30.0 15.0 0.0
-30.0 0.0 0.0
-30.0 -15.0 0.0

Append more angles to the end of the file to add secondary vector alignments. When the number of angles are greater than the number of measurement points, the extra vectors created will be considered as secondary vector alignments.

Transformation matrix file (.trans)

The .trans file is a simple comma or space delimited text file containing a 4 X 4 matrix. The transformation matrix should contain a translation and rotation only. For the matrix to be considered valid, the rotation vectors should have magnitude of 1 accurate to 7 decimal digits. An example file is shown below:

1.0000000   0.0000000   0.0000000   0.0000000
0.0000000   1.0000000   0.0000000   0.0000000
0.0000000   0.0000000   1.0000000   0.0000000
0.0000000   0.0000000   0.0000000   1.0000000

Fiducial point positions file (.fpos)

The .fpos file is a simple comma or space delimited text file of the form:

Fi  xi  yi  zi  P1i P2i P3i P4i . . . PNi
Fj  xj  yj  zj  P1j P2j P3j P4j . . . PNj
:
Fk  xk  yk  zk  P1k P2k P3k P4k . . . PNk

Where “Fi” is the index of fiducial point, “xi yi zi” are the coordinates of that fiducial point in the instrument coordinate system and “P1i P2i P3i Pi4i” are the positioning system variables at the time the fiducial point position were measured.

Note

In SScanSS 2, the index of the first fiducial point is 1 not 0. The fiducial point manager shows the indices in the vertical header (unnamed column on the left side).

The example below is for the measurement of 5 fiducial points in the order (3,1,5,2,4) on an x, y, z, omega positioning system, with a rotation in omega of 90 degrees between the measurements of the 5th and 2nd fiducial point.:

3   -72.2471016 -9.3954792 -0.1111806 270.0 -200.0 600.0 90.0
1   20.8212362  -9.3734531 70.5337096 270.0 -200.0 600.0 90.0
5   26.9184367  -9.1761998 -68.1036148 270.0 -200.0 600.0 90.0
2   -56.8372955 -9.5676188 46.7159424 270.0 -200.0 600.0 0.0
4   -49.1049504 -9.3734125 -54.1452751 270.0 -200.0 600.0 0.0

Robot world calibration file (.calib)

The .calib file is a simple comma or space delimited text file of the form:

Pi  Fi  xi  yi  zi  V1i V2i V3i V4i . . . VNi
Pj  Fj  xj  yj  zj  V1j V2j V3j V4j . . . VNj
:
Pk  Fk  xk  yk  zk  V1k V2k V3k V4k . . . VNk

Where “Pi”is the index of the pose (which should begin at 1), “Fi” is the index of fiducial point, “xi yi zi” are the coordinates of that fiducial point in the instrument coordinate system and “P1i P2i P3i Pi4i” are the positioning system variables at the time the fiducial point position were measured.

The example below is for the calibration of a 3 degree of freedom revolute robot, several fiducials point are measured in 3 different poses.:

1   1       102.8377418      -81.96943728   -363.7358           90  -90       50
1   2       79.42193655      8.908326571    -417.8232923    90      -90       50
1   3       48.9408      131.9627569        -492.119            90  -90       50
1   4       12.97246409      62.3434793         -423.5625153        90      -90       50
2   1       42.9476      74.26894944        -329.0102          -90   90      -50
2   2       18.8411894       -16.465928         -383.035       -90   90      -50
2   3       -15.3111639      -139.5736584   -455.65207         -90   90      -50
2   4       53.03868877      -61.486            -447.1121114   -90   90      -50
2   5       25.472906        -167.38232         -510.7875906   -90   90      -50
2   6       58.79880665      -136.3461627   -508.2237055   -90       90      -50
3   1       74.46685385      -130.4356927   -485.11675          90   180  90
3   2       75.08461883      -22.10217867   -485.0733318    90       180  90
3   3       75.7352316       124.8278           -486.6431378        90       180  90
3   4       69.81        39.9879        -426.605        90   180  90
3   5       70.33116112      166.5633859    -425.7904619    90       180  90
3   6       70.17106437      131.8591781    -396.1656491    90       180  90