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A method for measuring the displacement of a surface relative to a base reference. The method includes generating point cloud data between a reference point and a surface disposed distally from the reference point to define a three dimensional image of the surface. The method also includes determini

A method for measuring the displacement of a surface relative to a base reference. The method includes generating point cloud data between a reference point and a surface disposed distally from the reference point to define a three dimensional image of the surface. The method also includes determining the location and direction of key reference parameters of the object defined by the three dimensional image from the point cloud data. The method also includes obtaining base reference data in a prescribed co-ordinate system in respect of a base reference relative to the surface. Further, the method provides for processing the point cloud data and the base reference data, orientating the point cloud data relative to the key reference parameters defined by the base reference data and transforming the point cloud data into a co-ordinate system coinciding with the base reference data.

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1. A system to determine wear of a first surface of a mill and the displacement of the first surface relative to a base reference comprising a second surface of the mill, the first surface being exposed to wear and the second surface not exposed to wear, wherein said second surface is oriented with

1. A system to determine wear of a first surface of a mill and the displacement of the first surface relative to a base reference comprising a second surface of the mill, the first surface being exposed to wear and the second surface not exposed to wear, wherein said second surface is oriented with reference to a mill co-ordinate system related to the geometry of the mill, said system comprising: a scanning means comprising a laser scanner comprising a distance measuring unit configured to transmit laser radiation towards the first surface and to measure a distance between the laser scanner and the first surface to generate point cloud data, the point cloud data comprising a plurality of three-dimensional spatial points in respect of a measure of the spatial orientation of a distal surface comprising the first surface and oriented with respect to a point cloud co-ordinate system referenced to a reference point of the laser scanner, each of the plurality of spatial points being relative to a corresponding spatial point relative to a reference point located on said second surface, the generated point cloud data defining a three-dimensional point cloud image of said first surface;a storage means for storing base reference data in respect of the spatial orientation of the second surface relative to said first surface; anda processing means comprising microprocessor circuitry interfaced with the scanning means and the storage means for processing said three-dimensional point cloud image and said base reference data to determine the relative displacement of said first surface with respect to said second surface, wherein said processing means includes: a partitioning means for partitioning said point cloud data into discrete segments corresponding to different geometrically described sections of said first surface;a referencing means to orientate said three-dimensional point cloud image relative to key reference data of the base reference and to transform said point cloud co-ordinate system of the three-dimensional point cloud image into a co-ordinate system coinciding with said mill co-ordinate system of said base reference data of said second surface,a displacement processing means to calculate the displacement between said first surface and said second surface using both sets of data in said co-ordinate system, wherein the calculated displacement is compared against a prescribed threshold comprising a critical distance between said first surface and said second surface in order to gauge wear of said first surface relative to said second surface. 2. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said key reference data are the critical parameters that describe the geometry of the base reference and boundaries of the first surface. 3. A system as claimed in claim 2, wherein said second surface is the inner surface of a mill defined by a cylindrical shell with opposing ends and said critical parameters include: the location of the central longitudinal axis of the shell;the radius of the shell; andthe length of the cylindrical portion of the shell. 4. A system as claimed in claim 3, wherein the first surface comprises segments and said critical parameters include the distance of the corner points of each said segment to one end of said shell. 5. A system as claimed in claim 4, wherein said critical parameters include the distance between a prescribed reference surface and one of the opposing ends of the shell. 6. A system as claimed in claim 4, wherein the opposing ends are conical, and said critical parameters include: the cone angles of said opposing ends, relative to the axis of the cylindrical shell; andthe distance between the apexes of the opposing ends. 7. A system as claimed in claim 4, wherein said processing means further includes a partitioning means for partitioning said point cloud data into discrete segments corresponding to different geometrically described sections of said first surface before operation of said referencing means and said displacement processing means. 8. A system as claimed in claim 7, wherein said referencing means includes a positioning means for positioning the point cloud data segments that were discretely partitioned and stored for the opposing ends of the cylindrical shell, relative to said base reference. 9. A system as claimed in claim 8, wherein said positioning means enables: extracting data pertaining to the distance of the corner points from said point cloud data to determine the location of the corner points (A), the length of the segments (B), the gap between an adjacent segment and the one opposing end of the shell (C), and the longitudinal extent of the shell (D); andtranslating the data along the longitudinal axis by: determining the location of all corners within one vertical plane of visible segments all around the shell;determining the location of gaps between all corners opposing the determined location of all corners within one vertical plane of visible segments all around the shell;determining the halfway plane between planes through points extracted from the determined location of all corners and the determined location of gaps between all corners;determining the position of the base reference at the one opposing end according to a formula: ¼A+B+C; anddetermining the position of the base reference at the other opposing end by adding D to the outcome of the formula for determining the position of the base reference. 10. A system as claimed in claim 8, wherein said critical parameters include the distance between a prescribed reference surface and one of the opposing ends of the shell, wherein said positioning means enables: extracting data pertaining to the distance between the prescribed reference surface and the one of the opposing ends of the shell (A′), and the longitudinal extent of the shell (D′) from the base reference data; andtranslating the data along the longitudinal axis by: determining the position of the base reference at the one opposing end by adding A′ to the location of the reference surface in said point cloud data; anddetermining the position of the base reference at the other opposing end by adding D to the determined position of the base reference. 11. A system as claimed in claim 8, wherein said referencing means enables invoking an estimating means for estimating the critical parameters for said displacement processing means to subsequently determine the thickness of the distal surface relative to the base reference at the opposing ends of the cylindrical shell. 12. A system as claimed in claim 11, wherein said positioning means enables: extracting data pertaining to the distance of the corner points from said point cloud data to determine the location of the corner points (A), the length of the segments (B), the gap between an adjacent segment and the one opposing end of the shell (C), and the longitudinal extent of the shell (D); andtranslating the data along the longitudinal axis by: determining the location of all corners within one vertical plane of visible segments all around the shell;determining the location of gaps between all corners opposing the determined locations of all corners within one vertical plane of visible segments all around the shell;determining the halfway plane between planes through points extracted from the determined location of all corners and the determined location of gaps between all corners;determining the position of the base reference at the one opposing end according to a formula: ½A+B+C; anddetermining the position of the base reference at the other opposing end by adding D to the outcome of the formula for determining the position of the base reference;and said estimating means uses a gap point two parallel planes method for adopting a simultaneous least squares fit methodology, whereby the loci of the corner points are used to estimate the parameters of the parallel, best-fit planes in order to determine the distance along the longitudinal axis to the base reference at both of the opposing ends of the cylindrical shell. 13. A system as claimed in claim 12, wherein said referencing means includes an orientating process to apply a functional model to orientate said point cloud data relative to said key reference data of the opposing ends and to transform said point cloud data into a co-ordinate system coinciding with said base reference data for each opposing end, respectively. 14. A system as claimed in claim 13, wherein the case of the opposing ends is planar or conical, said displacement processing means enables calculating the displacement between the distal surface and the base reference using both sets of data in the co-ordinate system of the base reference data, said point cloud data being already transformed, commencing with the one end and then the other. 15. A system as claimed in claim 11, wherein said estimating means uses a planar reference surface method for adopting a simultaneous least squares fit methodology, whereby the reference surface is planar and data points thereon at the time of acquisition that are positioned by said positioning means and transformed by a transformation means are used to estimate the parameters of a best-fit plane in order to determine the distance along the longitudinal axis to the base reference at both of the opposing ends of the cylindrical shell. 16. A system as claimed in claim 4, wherein said displacement processing means enables calculating the radius being the orthogonal distance from the axis of the cylindrical shell to a specific observation point and determines the thickness of the distal surface relative to the base reference at said specific observation point along the cylindrical shell as the difference between the initial approximate radius of the base reference and the calculated radius. 17. A system as claimed in claim 3, wherein said at least one of the critical parameters of said key reference data is the axis of the cylindrical shell. 18. A system as claimed in claim 17, wherein said processing means includes a data editing means for filtering spurious point data from the accumulated point cloud data before operation of said referencing means and said displacement processing means. 19. A system as claimed in claim 1, including processing modules to provide for statistical analysis and quality control of the accumulated cloud point data, said processing modules comprising one or more of the following metrics: covariance matrix of estimated parameters;data snooping methods to test and identify least-squares residuals and subsequently remove outlier points;root mean square (RMS) and maximum residual; andestimated variance factor. 20. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said referencing means includes a locating means for locating at least one of the critical parameters of said key reference data within said point cloud data, and a transformation means for transforming the point cloud data into the co-ordinate system coinciding with said base reference data so that the location of the one critical parameter mathematically coincides with the location of this same critical parameter in the base reference data. 21. A system as claimed in claim 20, wherein said locating means includes an estimating means for estimating the location of at least one of the critical parameters of said key reference data from said point cloud data. 22. A computer-based method for measuring the wear of a first surface of a structure relative to a base reference comprising a second surface of the structure, wherein the second surface is not exposed to wear, and wherein said second surface is oriented with reference to a structure co-ordinate system related to the geometry of the structure, said method comprising: generating, using a laser scanner including a distance measuring unit configured to transmit laser radiation towards the first surface and to measure a distance between the laser scanner and the first surface, point cloud data comprising a plurality of three-dimensional spatial points in respect of a measure of the spatial orientation of a distal surface relative to a reference point, the point cloud data defining a three dimensional image of said first surface oriented with respect to a point cloud co-ordinate system referenced to the reference point of the laser scanner, each of the plurality of spatial points being relative to a corresponding spatial point relative to a reference point located on said second surface;obtaining base reference data in a prescribed co-ordinate system in respect of the second surface relative to said first surface;determining the location and direction of key reference data of the base reference;processing, using a computer comprising microprocessor circuitry interfaced with the laser scanner and storage means, said point cloud data and said base reference data to determine a relative displacement of said first surface with respect to said second surface, said processing comprising:partitioning said point cloud data into discrete segments corresponding to different geometrically described sections of said first surface;orientating the point cloud data relative to the key reference data defined by said base reference data and transforming the point cloud co-ordinate system of the three-dimensional point cloud image into a co-ordinate system coinciding with said base reference data; anddetermining the relative displacement of said first surface defined by said point cloud data with respect to said base reference in said co-ordinate system, wherein the relative displacement is compared against a prescribed threshold comprising a critical distance between said first surface and said second surface in order to gauge wear of said first surface relative to said second surface. 23. A system for mapping the displacement of a first surface of a structure relative to a base reference comprising a second surface of the structure, the first surface being subject to wear, wherein said second surface is oriented with reference to a structure co-ordinate system related to the geometry of the structure, said system comprising: a laser scanner comprising a distance measuring unit configured to transmit laser radiation towards the first surface and to measure a distance between the laser scanner and the first surface to generate point cloud data, the point cloud data comprising a plurality of three-dimensional spatial points defining the first surface, oriented with respect to a point cloud co-ordinate system referenced to a reference point of the laser scanner, each of the plurality of spatial points being relative to a corresponding spatial point relative to a reference point located on said second surface;a processing means comprising microprocessor circuitry interfaced with the laser scanner for partitioning said point cloud data into discrete segments corresponding to different geometrically described sections of said first surface and orientating the point cloud data relative to base reference data and transforming the point cloud co-ordinate system into said structure co-ordinate system coinciding with the base reference and to generate displacement data in respect of the displacement between each point of said point cloud and a related point of said base reference;a comparison means for comparing the displacement data against a prescribed threshold comprising a critical distance between said first surface and said second surface in order to gauge wear of said first surface relative to said second surface; anda display means for graphically displaying the result of the comparison, wherein the displacement data exceeding the prescribed threshold indicates the first surface requires one of maintenance or replacement. 24. A system to measure the displacement of a first surface of a structure relative to a base reference comprising a second surface of the structure, the first surface being subject to wear, wherein said second surface is oriented with reference to a structure co-ordinate system related to the geometry of the structure, said system comprising: a laser scanner comprising a distance measuring unit configured to transmit laser radiation towards the first surface and to measure a distance between the laser scanner and the first surface to generate point cloud data, the point cloud data comprising a plurality of three-dimensional spatial points in respect of a measure of the spatial orientation of a distal surface relative to a reference point, the generated point cloud data defining a three-dimensional image of said first surface oriented with respect to a point cloud co-ordinate system referenced to the reference point of the laser scanner, each of the plurality of spatial points being relative to a corresponding spatial point relative to a reference point located on said second surface;a storage means for storing base reference data in respect of the spatial orientation of the second surface relative to said first surface; anda processing means comprising microprocessor circuitry interfaced with the scanning means and the storage means for processing said point cloud data and said base reference data to determine the relative displacement of said first surface with respect to said second surface, wherein said processing means includes: a referencing means to orientate said point cloud data relative to key reference data of the base reference and to transform said point cloud co-ordinate system of the point cloud data into said structure co-ordinate system coinciding with said base reference data of said second surface, wherein said key reference data are critical parameters that describe the geometry of the base reference and boundaries of the first surface,a displacement processing means to calculate the displacement between said first surface and said second surface using both sets of data in said co-ordinate system, wherein said calculated displacement is compared against a prescribed threshold comprising a critical distance between said first surface and said second surface in order to gauge wear of said first surface relative to said second surface;wherein said second surface is the inner surface of a cylindrical shell with opposing ends and said critical parameters include: the location of the central longitudinal axis of the shell;the radius of the shell; andthe length of the cylindrical portion of the shell;wherein the first surface comprises segments and said critical parameters further include the distance of the corner points of each said segment to one end of said shell;wherein said processing means further includes a partitioning means for partitioning said point cloud data into discrete segments corresponding to different geometrically described sections of said first surface before operation of said referencing means and said displacement processing means;wherein said referencing means includes a positioning means for positioning the point cloud data segments that were discretely partitioned and stored for the opposing ends of the cylindrical shell, relative to said base reference, wherein said positioning means enables: extracting data pertaining to the distance of the corner points from said point cloud data to determine the location of the corner points (A), the length of the segments (B), the gap between an adjacent segment and the one opposing end of the shell (C), and the longitudinal extent of the shell (D); andtranslating the data along the longitudinal axis by: determining the location of all corners within one vertical plane of visible segments all around the shell;determining the location of gaps between all corners opposing the determined location of all corners within one vertical plane of visible segments all around the shell;determining the halfway plane between planes through points extracted from the determined location of all corners and the determined location of gaps between all corners;determining the position of the base reference at the one opposing end according to a formula: ½A+B+C; anddetermining the position of the base reference at the other opposing end by adding D to the outcome of the formula for determining the position of the base reference.