ARTICLE IN PRESS

International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 48 (2008) 711–714

www.elsevier.com/locate/ijmactool

Short Communication

Application of convex hull in the assessment of roundness error

Li Xiuming, Shi Zhaoyao
College of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Electronics Technology, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100022, PR China
Received 28 October 2007; accepted 29 October 2007
Available online 4 December 2007

Abstract

The concept of the Minimum Zone Lines is proposed as a determinant condition of the minimum zone circle. The minimum zone
roundness error from coordinate data is obtained by the distance between the Minimum Zone Lines. The Minimum Zone Lines
determined by four critical measured points can be constructed based on convex hull and coordinates transmission. The rapid selection
of iteration points with convex hull leads to an efficient way to solve the minimax solution. The objective of this strategy is to pick out the
critical data points as early as possible so that the redundant data points can be rejected. The method developed is implemented and
validated with the data available in the literature.
r 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Roundness; Convex hull; Minimum Zone Lines; Minimum zone circle; Computational geometry

1. Introduction technique is efficient and easy to code. But the simplex

The coordinate measuring machines (CMMs) are
extensively used in industry for the dimensional measure-
ment of mechanical parts. The CMM acquire data one
point at a time on the part surface to be measured. For
discrete measurement, the roundness error is defined as the
minimum radial separation between two concentric circles
that enclose all data points from the CMM. There are four
common methods to evaluate circularity error, they are:
least square circle (LSC), minimum circumscribed circle
(MCC), maximum inscribed circle (MIC) and minimum
zone circle (MZC). The MZC method complies with ANSI
and ISO standards and yields smaller zone value than
above methods. The evaluation of circularity based on the
minimum zone criterion as a non-linear and non-convex
problem is hard to handle in mathematics.
The MZC has been the focus of many researchers and
many methods based on non-linear optimization and
computational geometry have been presented. Murthy
and Abbin [1] proposed a two-dimensional simplex search
method to solve the circularity problems. The simplex for
circularity evaluation is a polygon. The simplex search
Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 10 67392894.
E-mail address: lixiuming@emails.bjut.edu.cn (L. Xiuming).
search does not guarantee a global minimum solution to
non-convex problems like circularity. Genetic algorithms
have been used to solve difficult optimization problems for
circularity error. Wen et al. [2] presented a genetic
algorithm for searching the four circularity error evalua-
tion methods simultaneously. The algorithm was imple-
mented in real-code and only blend crossover operators
were applied to two randomly selected individuals from the
existing population. Zhu et al. [3] proposed a steepest
descent optimization procedure to find the circularity
value. The steepest descent direction was determined by
the method of calculating the minimum translational
distance between two convex polygons and the length of
the moving step is exactly determined by a geometrical
method. Ding et al. [4] proposed an optimization method
known as semi-definite programming (SDP) for circularity
evaluation. A new algorithm for function-oriented form
evaluation [5,6] is proposed, based on a sound mathema-
tical background to obtain the functional boundaries that
are best represented by enveloping features. The proposed
method can handle general cases and is quite robust. It can
also be used for the evaluation of all other types of
geometric errors based on ISO specifications. The concepts
of ring gauge and plug gauge centers are mentioned in the
literature dealing with circularity evaluation. However,

0890-6955/$ - see front matter r 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ijmachtools.2007.10.019
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
712 L. Xiuming, S. Zhaoyao / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 48 (2008) 711–714

very little attention has been given to the application of P5 P3

y
computational geometric techniques for the function- P4
oriented form evaluation.
P2
The computational geometric techniques including P6
Voronoi diagrams [7–11] and convex hull [10,12] can be P1
P7
applied for evaluation of form errors in the manufactured
components. The solution technique exploits the properties
P12
of Voronoi diagrams to show that the minimum radial P10
P8
separation center is located at one vertex of the intersection
between the farthest and nearest regions. In the literature P9 P11
[10], the computational geometric concepts of convex hulls
were used whose main objective was to reduce the number
of candidate points for establishing the MC, MI and MZ
x
limacons and improve computational efficiency, and a new
heuristic algorithm was suggested to arrive at the inner Fig. 1. Minimum zone circle.
hull. Equi-distant and newly proposed Equi-angular
diagrams were employed for establishing the assessment r
features under different conditions. The convex hull is
P3 P8
not used as the selection of the iterative data points for
P1 P5 P6 P9 P11 P12
the minimum zone circle, whereas in the literature [13] P2 P4
application of the convex hull was to determine the P7 P10
iterative data points for the MCC and MIC.
In order to obtain the MZC, convex hull [8,10,12] has 
been used in the past. Construction of convex hulls
considerably reduces the number of candidate points for Fig. 2. Definition of roundness error.
establishing the assessment circles. However, there needs to
reduce the candidate points evaluated. First of all, the
coordinates of the data points from the CMM is converted Fig. 2. The circle is stretched according to (ri, yi). We can
into polar coordinates. The minimum zone roundness error draw a conclusion that the minimum zone roundness error
is defined as the distance between two parallel beelines is evaluated with the distance between the two parallel
according to polar coordinates. A new approach for beelines parallel to the y axis enclosing the given data
roundness error is proposed based on the convex hull points. The two beelines are called the minimum zone lines.
and polar coordinates. One beeline passes through the two points with the
maximum radius, the other is through the two points with
2. Evaluation of minimum zone roundness error the minimum radius. Four points satisfying the minimum
zone circularity error must comply with the certain
In general, the minimum zone roundness error is sequence. That is to say, the distribution of the four points
evaluated with radial separation between the two con- is the high-low-high-low or low-high-low-high shown in
centric circles enclosing all the measured data points as: Fig. 2.
D ¼ rmax  rmin , (1) 3. Algorithms for CMM data
where rmax and rmin are the maximum and minimum
radius. 3.1. Convex hull
Let (x1, y1), (x2, y2), y, (xi, yi), y, (xn, yn) represent the
x and y coordinates of n points of the measured circle in the For a given set of data points, Pi(xi, yi) (i ¼ 1, 2, y, n),
xy plane shown in Fig. 1. We can find the center (x0, y0) of (ri, yi), are computed shown in Fig. 3. An approach of
the given points and ri, yi of the ith data point as follows: constructing a convex outer hull is proposed by vector
Pn Pn product [13]. The convex hull constructed is as shown in
i¼1 xi y
x0 ¼ ; y0 ¼ i¼1 i , (2) Fig. 3.
n n
qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi 3.2. Selection of four points for MZC
ri ¼ ðxi  x0 Þ2 þ ðyi  y0 Þ2 , (3)
At first, the first high point Ph1 with the maximum radius
y  y0
tan yi ¼ i . (4) and the first low point Pl1 with the minimum radius are
xi  x0 picked out as the iteration data points as shown in
Establishing rectangular coordinates with the y axis as Fig. 3(b). Then the second high point Ph2 is determined
horizontal axis and the r axis as rectangular axis shown in due to the least angle between the y axis and the line
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
L. Xiuming, S. Zhaoyao / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 48 (2008) 711–714 713

Table 1
r Dataset
Ph1 No. x y
Ph2 P8 P9
P1 P6
1 107.5811 114.2119
P4 P5 P12 2 102.0909 119.9906
Pl2 P10
Pl1 3 95.6848 124.2034
4 88.2128 126.5634
 5 80.3826 126.9159
6 72.7251 125.2311
7 65.7612 121.6196
8 59.9721 116.3233
r
9 55.7576 109.7039
Ph2 Ph1 10 53.4073 102.2180
11 53.0774 94.3816
P4 P5 P6 P8 P9
P1 P12 12 54.7849 86.7302
Pl2 13 58.4107 79.7824
Pl1 P10
14 63.7075 74.0083
15 70.3176 69.8019
 16 77.7899 67.4519
17 85.6152 67.1081
Fig. 3. Convex hull: (a) data points and (b) selection of data points.
18 93.2669 68.7926
19 100.2245 72.4009
passing points Ph1 and Ph2. Similarly, the second low point 20 106.0093 77.6929
21 110.2199 84.3073
Pl2 is selected. These four data points must meet distribute
22 112.5676 91.7864
of spacing of data points in Fig. 3(b). 23 112.8977 99.6156
24 111.2129 107.2695
3.3. Calculation of the MZC error
Unit: mm.

New center coordinates ðx00 ; y00 Þ

can be easily calculated
by the corresponding x and y coordinates of four points
Ph1, Ph2 and Pl1, Pl2. According to ðx00 ; y00 Þ, ðr0i ; y0i Þ are r
P8
calculated by Eqs. (2) and (3). Suppose the distribution of
P20
the given data points is as shown in Fig. 2, the iteration P21
ends and roundness error can be calculated by Eq. (1). P24
P22
Otherwise, new four data points should be selected and
make the next iteration. P23
P1 P16

4. Practical examples and discussion 

For the purpose of testing the validity of the above r

method, two examples in the literature are illustrated as P8 P20
follows.
Example 1. The sampling data available in literature [2] is
shown in Table 1. At first, the coordinates in Table 1 are
converted into polar coordinates and shown in Fig. 4(a). P1 P16
Then a convex hull is constructed through points P1, P8,

P16, P20, P21, P22, P23 and P24. The line through the points
P8 and P20 has the least angle with the y axis. Another line Fig. 4. Example 1.
through the points P1 and P16 has the least angle with the y
axis too. The center coordinates of two concentric circles
Fig. 5(b), the points P8, P3 and P10, P7 are the data points
are (82.9909, 97.0084). Its value is 0.00382 mm. The result
of the second iteration. After iteration again the condition
is well in agreement in the literature [2]. After iteration a
of the minimum zone is met shown in Fig. 2. The center
result complying with the MZC is obtained shown in
coordinates of two concentric circles are (156.80, 156.63).
Fig. 4(b). It shows that the method proposed can deal with
Its value of error is 27.91 mm.
the circularity problem effectively.
Example 2. The measured data points are shown in The above two examples show that the proposed method
Table 2. The points P11, P3 and P7, P2 are selected as the is very efficient to select the iterative data points and solve
first iteration shown in Fig. 5(a). After iteration shown in the roundness error of the MZC.
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
714 L. Xiuming, S. Zhaoyao / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 48 (2008) 711–714

Table 2 be used for evaluation of the straight line error. This

Dataset strategy is the most suitable for the evaluation of circularity
No. x y
error based on polar coordinates.

1 209.4379 168.5169
Acknowledgment
2 185.5269 184.8491
3 177.0352 216.7537
4 149.9957 207.821 This research is supported by the Natural Science
5 137.258 211.1708 Foundation of China Grant No. 50627501 and the Natural
6 104.6318 187.0523 Science Foundation of Beijing Grant No. 3052003.
7 121.8388 162.9339
8 99.4921 129.4361
9 124.5204 112.2405 References
10 154.6885 121.1733
11 193.1959 105.5558 [1] T.S.R. Murthy, S.Z. Abbin, Minimum zone evaluation of surface,
12 196.4768 139.2621 International Journal of Machine Tool Design and Research 20 (2)
(1980) 123–136.
Unit: mm.
[2] X. Wen, Q. Xia, Y. Zhao, An effective genetic algorithm for
circularity error unified evaluation, International Journal of Machine
Tools & Manufacture 46 (14) (2006) 1770–1777.
[3] L.-M. Zhu, H. Ding, Y.-L. Xiong, A steepest descent algorithm for
r
circularity evaluation, Computer Aided Design 35 (3) (2003) 255–265.
[4] Y. Ding, L. Zhu, H. Ding, A unified approach for circularity and
P3 P11
spatial straightness evaluation using semi-definite programming,
P6 P8 P9 P International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 47 (10)
P1 P4 P5 10
P12
(2007) 1646–1650.
P2 P7 [5] V.N.N. Namboothiri, M.S. Shunmugam, Function-oriented form
evaluation of engineering surfaces, Precision Engineering 22 (2)
 (1998) 98–109.
[6] A. Weckenmann, H. Eitzert, M. Garmer, H. Weber, Functionality
oriented evaluation and sampling strategy in coordinate metrology,
r Precision Engineering 17 (4) (1995) 244–252.
[7] U. Roy, X. Zhang, Establishment of a pair of concentric circles with
P3 P8 P11 the minimal radial separation for assessing roundness error,
Computer Aided Design 24 (3) (1992) 161–168.
P P6 P9
P1 P4 5 P12 [8] U. Roy, X. Zhang, Development and application of voronoi
P2 P7 P10 diagrams in the assessment of roundness error in an industrial
environment, Computers & Industrial Engineering 26 (1) (1994)
11–26.
 [9] J. Huang, An exact solution for the roundness evaluation problems,
Precision Engineering 23 (4) (1999) 2–8.
Fig. 5. Example 2: (a) the first iteration and (b) the second iteration. [10] G.L. Samuel, M.S. Shunmugam, Evaluation of circularity from
coordinate and form data using computational geometric techniques,
5. Conclusions Precision Engineering 24 (3) (2000) 251–263.
[11] K. Kim, S. Lee, H.-B. Jung, Assessing roundness errors using discrete
voronoi diagrams, International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing
The basic idea of this research is to setup a new strategy Technology 16 (2000) 559–563.
that solves circularity problems. The strategy is to [12] N. Venkaiah, M.S. Shunmugam, Evaluation of form data using
determine the iterative data points with the convex hull. computational geometric techniques—Part I: Circularity error,
International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 47 (7–8)
A method of constructing the convex hull is presented and
(2007) 1229–1236.
effective based on vector product. This is successfully done [13] L. Xiuming, S. Zhaoyao, Development and application of convex
by two examples. An easy way is offered to find a vertex of hull in the assessment of roundness error, International Journal of
the convex hull that reaches the solution. This method can Machine Tools & Manufacture 48 (1) (2008) 135–139.