Surface roughness estimation and visualisation using force feedback

The authors suggest a simple visualisation system for the surface roughness information, with being highly cost‐effective, non‐destructive for the surface, curved‐surface measurable, and standard‐compensated. This system utilises a force sensor with a flexible stylus as a scanning tip, converting the surface property into a two‐dimensional grey scale image through an imaging analysis process. The authors acquire a linear coordination for standard surfaces, scan normal surfaces using the proposed novel system, and reconstruct the two‐dimensional images for the surfaces on the basis of the calibration curve. The authors can experience virtual roughness of a material with a reconstructed two‐dimensional image by comparing with the standard surface images.