profiles are mathematically combined to provide an accurate cross sectional measurement of the wheel rim in a plane containing the idealized surface normals of the wheel i e the plane perpendicular to the rim surface and through the axial center of the wheel itself wheel diameters are generated from pairs of opposed cross sectional radial measurements the system is designed to employ multiple cameras lasers optics filters and lighting fixtures to maximize the capabilities of its computer vision subsystem to achieve the high resolution and dimensional accuracy given the mechanical constraints of material handling equipment assembly and operating costs and fixture positioning the present invention calculates cross sectional wheel thicknesses and other critical dimensions to within an accuracy of well below 0 05 inch preferred embodiments approximate cross sectional thicknesses to within about 0 005 inch or less referring now to fig1 4 there is shown one embodiment of a wheel vision inspection system in accordance with the present invention generally 10 preferably arranged as part of an on line wheel manufacturing process a jib crane j or the like may be used to transport forged wheels w from a forging press machining stand tempering oven or other wheel holding area and onto the indexer portion of this system the system includes a platform base 12 upon which a majority of the system components are mounted the platform 12 rests on a plurality of vibration dampeners 14 which absorb the vibrations carried by the system 39 s surrounding equipment the system employs highly sensitive laser and light sensing equipment it is critical that this.