Six degree-of-freedom (6-DOF) posture measurement is an important academic research topic which has been broadly applied in many fields. As a high-speed photoelectronic sensor with ultra-high resolution and precision, position sensitive detector (PSD) has shown to be one of the most competitive candidates in 6-DOF measurement. This review presents the research progress of PSD-based 6-DOF posture measurement systems in the field of large-scale equipment assembly, ultra-precision manufacturing and other emerging areas. A total of six methods for implementing 6-DOF measurement are summarized and their advantages and limitations are discussed. Meanwhile, the paper illustrates challenges, potential solutions and future development trends.
Keywords: 6-DOF posture measurement; large-scale equipment assembly; position sensitive detector; ultra-precision manufacturing.