Processing system and inspection system

Abstract

To provide a processing system capable of properly processing an object.MEANS: A processing system for processing an object by processing light comprises inspection equipment for performing a foreign matter inspection in an area subjected to the inspection on a surface of the object, and an irradiation device for applying the processing light to the area subjected to the inspection.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to, for example, a processing system capable of processing an object with processing light, and an inspection system for inspecting an object.

Background Art

[0002] As a processing system capable of processing an object, Patent Document 1 describes a processing system that forms a structure by irradiating the surface of the object with processing light. In this type of processing system, it is required to process the object appropriately.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

[0004] According to a first aspect, there is provided a processing system that processes an object with processing light, the processing system comprising: an inspection device that performs foreign matter inspection in an inspection target region on the surface of the object; and an irradiation device that irradiates the inspection target region with the processing light.

[0005] According to a second aspect, there is provided a processing system that processes an object with processing light, the processing system comprising: an inspection device that performs defect inspection of the surface of the object in an inspection target region on the surface of the object; and an irradiation device that irradiates the inspection target region with the processing light.

[0006] According to a third aspect, there is provided a processing system that processes an object with processing light, the processing system comprising: a foreign matter removing device that removes foreign matter in at least a part on the surface of the object; and an irradiation device that irradiates at least a part on the surface of the object with the processing light.

[0007] According to a fourth aspect, an inspection system is provided which includes a light receiving device that receives light from the surface of an object on which a structure that modifies aerodynamic characteristics is formed, and an evaluation device that evaluates the characteristics of the structure formed on the surface of the object using design information relating to the characteristics of the structure and output information from the light receiving device.

[0008] According to a fifth embodiment, a processing system for processing an object with processing light is provided, comprising: an irradiation device for irradiating a first region on the object with processing light; and a position measuring device for measuring the position of the first region on the object irradiated with processing light, wherein the irradiation device irradiates a second region on the object, which is different from the first region, with processing light using the position measurement result of the position measuring device for the first region. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0009] [Figure 1] Figure 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the overall structure of the processing system according to the first embodiment. [Figure 2] Figures 2(a) and 2(b) are schematic cross-sectional views illustrating the process of applying a coating film to the surface of an object being processed. [Figure 3] Figure 3(a) is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the light irradiation device included in the processing system of the first embodiment, and Figures 3(b) and 3(c) are cross-sectional views showing the configuration of the light source system included in the light irradiation device, respectively. [Figure 4] Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the imaging device included in the foreign object measurement device. [Figure 5] Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view showing the light-receiving device included in the foreign object measurement device. [Figure 6] Figure 6(a) is a cross-sectional view showing a cross-section of the riblet structure formed by the processing apparatus of the first embodiment, and Figure 6(b) is a perspective view showing the riblet structure formed by the processing apparatus of the first embodiment. [Figure 7]Figures 7(a) and 7(b) are front views showing an aircraft, which is an example of a workpiece on which a riblet structure is formed, and Figure 7(c) is a side view showing an aircraft, which is an example of a workpiece on which a riblet structure is formed. [Figure 8] Figure 8 is a plan view showing multiple processing shot areas set on the surface of the coating film. [Figure 9] Figure 9 is a cross-sectional view showing a processing apparatus that performs one step of the processing operation for forming a riblet structure. [Figure 10] Figure 10(a) is a cross-sectional view showing a processing apparatus that performs one step of the processing operation to form a riblet structure, and Figure 10(b) is a plan view showing the surface of the coating film on which the processing operation shown in Figure 10(a) is being performed. [Figure 11] Figure 11 is a plan view showing the scanning trajectory of the processing light (i.e., the movement trajectory of the target irradiation area) during a period in which scanning and stepping operations are repeated. [Figure 12] Figure 12 is a cross-sectional view showing a processing apparatus that performs one step of a processing operation to form a riblet structure. [Figure 13] Figure 13(a) is a cross-sectional view showing a processing apparatus that performs one step of the processing operation to form a riblet structure, and Figure 13(b) is a plan view showing the surface of the coating film on which the processing operation shown in Figure 13(a) is being performed. [Figure 14] Figure 14 is a cross-sectional view showing a processing apparatus that performs one step of a machining operation to form a riblet structure. [Figure 15] Figure 15 is a cross-sectional view showing a processing apparatus that performs one step of the processing operation for forming a riblet structure. [Figure 16] Figure 16 is a cross-sectional view showing a processing apparatus performing one step of a machining operation to form a riblet structure. [Figure 17] Figure 17 is a cross-sectional view showing a processing apparatus that performs one step of a machining operation to form a riblet structure. [Figure 18] Figure 18 is a cross-sectional view showing a processing apparatus performing one step of a machining operation to form a riblet structure. [Figure 19] Figure 19 is a cross-sectional view showing a processing apparatus that performs one step of a processing operation for forming a riblet structure. [Figure 20] Figure 20 is a plan view showing two processing shot regions set on a coating film. [Figure 21] Figure 21 is a plan view showing the movement trajectory of a target irradiation region by a processing operation performed on a certain processing shot region. [Figure 22] Figure 22 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing the overall structure of a processing system according to the second embodiment. [Figure 23] Figure 23 is a plan view showing three processing shot regions set on a coating film. [Figure 24] Figure 24 is a plan view showing the movement trajectory of a target irradiation region by a processing operation performed on a certain processing shot region. [Figure 25] Figure 25 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing the overall structure of a processing system according to the third embodiment. [Figure 26] Figure 26 is a plan view showing a processed region on the surface of a coating film. [Figure 27] Figure 27 is a plan view showing the surface of a coating film on which eight processing shot regions are set. [Figure 28] Figure 28 is an enlarged plan view showing a part of the eight processing shot regions shown in Figure 27. [Figure 29] Figure 29 is a plan view showing an example of the positional relationship between a position measurement device and a light irradiation device. [Figure 30] Figure 30 is a plan view showing a coating film on which a plurality of processed regions are formed. [Figure 31] Figure 31 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of a processing system including a position measurement device for performing a third measurement operation. [Figure 32]Figure 32(a) is a plan view showing the measurement light scanning the riblet structure along a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the concave and convex structures constituting the riblet structure extend, and Figure 32(b) is a plan view showing the measurement light scanning the riblet structure along a direction that is not perpendicular to the direction in which the concave and convex structures constituting the riblet structure extend, but intersects with it. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0010] The following describes embodiments of the processing system, inspection system, processing method, inspection method, control device, and computer program with reference to the drawings. The following describes embodiments of the processing system, inspection system, processing method, inspection method, control device, and computer program using a processing system SYS that performs a processing operation to process a coating film SF formed on the surface of a workpiece S using a processing light EL. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described below.

[0011] Furthermore, the following explanation describes the positional relationships of the various components that make up the machining system SYS using the XYZ Cartesian coordinate system defined by the mutually orthogonal X, Y, and Z axes. For the sake of clarity, the following explanation assumes that the X-axis and Y-axis directions are horizontal (i.e., predetermined directions in the horizontal plane), and the Z-axis direction is vertical (i.e., a direction perpendicular to the horizontal plane, essentially the up and down direction). The rotational directions (in other words, inclination directions) around the X, Y, and Z axes are referred to as the θX direction, θY direction, and θZ direction, respectively. Here, the Z-axis direction may also be defined as the direction of gravity. The XY plane may also be defined as the horizontal direction.

[0012] (1) Processing system SYSa of the first embodiment First, the machining system SYS of the first embodiment (hereinafter, the machining system SYS of the first embodiment will be referred to as "machining system SYSa") will be described.

[0013] (1-1) Structure of the SYSa processing system First, the structure of the SYSa machining system of the first embodiment will be described with reference to Figure 1. Figure 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the structure of the SYSa machining system of the first embodiment.

[0014] As shown in Figure 1, the processing system SYS processes a coating film SF formed (e.g., applied) on the surface of a workpiece S. The workpiece S may be, for example, a metal, an alloy (e.g., duralumin), a resin (e.g., CFRP (Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic)), glass, or an object made of any other material. The coating film SF is a film of paint covering the surface of the workpiece S. For this reason, the coating film SF may also be called a paint layer. The workpiece S serves as the substrate for the coating film SF. The thickness of the coating film SF may be, for example, several tens of micrometers to several hundred micrometers, but may be any other size. The paint constituting the coating film SF may include, for example, a resinous paint, or other types of paint. The resin-based paint may include, for example, at least one of the following: acrylic paint (e.g., paint containing acrylic polyol), polyurethane paint (e.g., paint containing polyurethane polyol), polyester paint (e.g., paint containing polyester polyol), vinyl paint, fluorine-based paint (e.g., paint containing fluorine-based polyol), silicone-based paint, and epoxy-based paint.

[0015] Figure 1 shows an example in which the machining system SYSa (in particular, the machining apparatus 1 provided by the machining system SYSa, described later) is positioned on a workpiece S having a surface aligned with a horizontal plane (i.e., the XY plane). However, the machining system SYSa is not necessarily positioned on a workpiece S having a surface aligned with a horizontal plane. For example, as will be described in detail later with reference to Figure 7, the machining system SYSa may be positioned on a workpiece S having a surface intersecting the horizontal plane. The machining system SYSa may also be positioned suspended from the workpiece S. In this case, the X-axis and Y-axis directions may, for convenience, be defined as directions along the surface of the workpiece S (typically parallel directions), and the Z-axis direction may, for convenience, be defined as directions intersecting the surface of the workpiece S (typically orthogonal directions).

[0016] The processing system SYSa irradiates the coating film SF with processing light EL in order to process the coating film SF. The processing light EL can be any type of light, as long as it can process the coating film SF when irradiated onto it. For example, the processing light EL may be laser light. Furthermore, the processing light EL may be light of any wavelength, as long as it can process the coating film SF when irradiated onto it. In the first embodiment, the explanation will proceed using an example where the processing light EL is invisible light (for example, at least one of infrared light and ultraviolet light). That is, in the first embodiment, the explanation will proceed using an example where the processing light EL is at least one of light with a wavelength in a wavelength band shorter than the visible light wavelength band and light with a wavelength in a wavelength band longer than the visible light wavelength band. However, the processing light EL may be visible light.

[0017] Here, the process of processing the coating film SF using processing light EL will be explained with reference to Figures 2(a) and 2(b). Figures 2(a) and 2(b) are schematic cross-sectional views showing the process of processing the coating film SF formed on the surface of the workpiece S.

[0018] As shown in Figure 2(a), the processing system SYSa irradiates the target irradiation area EA, which is set on the surface of the coating film SF, with processing light EL. The target irradiation area EA is the area that the processing system SYSa is scheduled to irradiate with processing light EL. As shown in Figure 2(a), when processing light EL is irradiated onto the target irradiation area EA, a portion of the coating film SF that overlaps with the target irradiation area EA (i.e., the coating film located on the -Z side of the target irradiation area EA) is evaporated by the processing light EL. At this time, not all of the coating film SF that overlaps with the target irradiation area EA in the thickness direction of the coating film SF is evaporated. In other words, in the thickness direction of the coating film SF, a portion of the coating film SF that overlaps with the target irradiation area EA (specifically, the portion of the coating film SF that is relatively close to the target irradiation area EA) is evaporated, while another portion of the coating film SF that overlaps with the target irradiation area EA (specifically, the portion of the coating film SF that is relatively far from the target irradiation area EA) is not evaporated. In other words, the coating film SF is evaporated only to the extent that the workpiece S is not exposed from behind the coating film SF. Therefore, the characteristics of the processing light EL may be set to a desired characteristic such that the coating film SF is evaporated only to the extent that the workpiece S is not exposed from the coating film SF. The characteristics of the processing light EL may be set to a desired characteristic such that the irradiation of the processing light EL does not affect the workpiece S. The characteristics of the processing light EL may be set to a desired characteristic such that the irradiation of the processing light EL affects only the coating film SF. The characteristics of the processing light EL may include at least one of the following: the wavelength of the processing light EL, the amount of energy per unit time and / or per unit area transmitted from the processing light EL to the surface of the coating film SF, the intensity distribution of the processing light EL on the surface of the coating film SF, the irradiation time of the processing light EL on the surface of the coating film SF, and the size of the processing light EL on the surface of the coating film SF (for example, spot diameter or area).

[0019] In this case, the energy (i.e., intensity) of the processing light EL irradiated onto the coating film SF is determined so that the irradiation of the processing light EL does not affect the workpiece S. The energy of the processing light EL is determined so that the processing light EL does not penetrate the coating film SF and reach the workpiece S. In other words, the energy of the processing light EL is determined so that the irradiation of the processing light EL affects only the coating film SF.

[0020] As a result, the coating film SF is removed in the areas where it has evaporated. On the other hand, the coating film SF remains in the areas where it has not evaporated. In other words, as shown in Figure 2(b), the coating film SF is partially removed in the areas irradiated with the processing light EL. As a result, as shown in Figure 2(b), the thickness of the coating film SF becomes thinner in the areas irradiated with the processing light EL compared to the areas that were not irradiated with the processing light EL. In other words, as shown in Figure 2(b), on the surface of the workpiece S, there are coating film SF that remain relatively thick because they were not irradiated with the processing light EL, and coating film SF that have become relatively thinner because they were irradiated with the processing light EL. In other words, the thickness of the coating film SF is adjusted, at least partially, by irradiation with the processing light EL. Irradiation with the processing light EL removes a portion of the coating film SF in the thickness direction (Z-axis direction in the example shown in Figure 2(b)). As a result, recesses (in other words, grooves) C corresponding to the areas where the coating film SF is relatively thin are formed on the surface of the coating film SF. Accordingly, the "operation for processing the paint film SF" in the first embodiment includes at least one of the operations of adjusting the thickness of the paint film SF, removing a portion of the paint film SF, and forming a recess C in the paint film SF.

[0021] The coating film SF evaporates by absorbing the processing light EL. In other words, the coating film SF is removed by photochemical decomposition, for example, when the energy of the processing light EL is transferred to the coating film SF. When the processing light EL is laser light, the phenomenon in which the coating film SF is photochemically decomposed and removed when the energy of the processing light EL is transferred to the coating film SF is sometimes called laser ablation. For this reason, the coating film SF contains a material capable of absorbing the processing light EL. Specifically, for example, the coating film SF may contain a material whose absorption rate with respect to the processing light EL (for example, if the processing light EL is invisible light, the absorption rate with respect to light in a wavelength band that includes wavelengths different from the visible light wavelength band) is equal to or greater than a predetermined first absorption threshold. Conversely, light in a wavelength band in which the absorption rate by the coating film SF is equal to or greater than a predetermined first absorption threshold may be used as the processing light EL.

[0022] The materials constituting the coating film SF may contain a dye (specifically, for example, at least one of a pigment and a dye). If the coating film SF contains a dye, the dye may exhibit a desired color when irradiated with visible light. As a result, the coating film SF containing such a dye will exhibit a desired color. In this case, the dye may have the characteristic that its absorption rate for light in a first wavelength band, which includes wavelengths that are reflected by the coating film SF and perceived by humans as light of the desired color, is different from its absorption rate for light in a second wavelength band, which is different from the first wavelength band, so that the coating film SF exhibits a desired color. For example, the dye may have the characteristic that its absorption rate for light in the first wavelength band is smaller than its absorption rate for light in the second wavelength band. For example, the dye may have the characteristic that the absorption rate of light in the first wavelength band is less than or equal to a predetermined second absorption threshold (where the second absorption threshold is smaller than the first absorption threshold), and the absorption rate of light in the second wavelength band is greater than or equal to a predetermined third absorption threshold (where the third absorption threshold is larger than the second absorption threshold). An example of a dye that can adequately absorb such invisible light, processing light EL, while exhibiting a desired color is a near-infrared absorbing dye manufactured by SpectrumInfo GmbH in Kyiv, Ukraine (for example, tetrafluoroborated 4-((E)-2-{(3E)-2-chloro-3-[2-(2,6-diphenyl-4H-thiopyran-4-ylidene)ethylidene]cyclohexa-1-en-1-yl}vinyl)-2,6-diphenylthiopyrillium). Note that if the coating film SF is transparent, the coating film SF does not need to contain a dye.

[0023] If the coating film SF contains a dye, the dye may be transparent to visible light. As a result, the coating film SF containing such a dye becomes a transparent film (a so-called clear coat). The term "transparent film" here may mean a film through which light in at least a portion of the wavelength range of the visible light spectrum can pass. In this case, the dye may have the characteristic of not absorbing much visible light (i.e., reflecting a reasonable amount) so that the coating film SF becomes transparent. For example, the dye may have the characteristic of having a visible light absorption rate lower than a predetermined fourth absorption threshold. An example of a dye that can adequately absorb invisible processing light (EL) while remaining transparent to visible light is the near-infrared absorbing dye manufactured by Spectrum Info, Inc. (for example, tetrafluoroborated 6-chloro-2-[(E)-2-(3-{(E)-2-[6-chloro-1-ethylbenzo[cd]indole-2(1H)-ylidene]ethylidene}-2-phenyl-1-cyclopenten-1-yl)ethenyl]-1-ethylbenzo[cd]indolium).

[0024] In Figure 1 again, the processing system SYSa for processing the coating film SF comprises a processing device 1, a control device 2, a foreign matter measuring device 31, a foreign matter removal device 32, and a display 4. Furthermore, the processing device 1 comprises a light irradiation device 11, a drive system 12, a housing device 13, a support device 14, a drive system 15, an exhaust device 16, and a gas supply device 17.

[0025] The light irradiation device 11 can irradiate the painted film SF with processing light EL under the control of the control device 2. In order to irradiate the painted film SF with processing light EL, the light irradiation device 11 includes a light source system 111 capable of emitting processing light EL and an optical system 112 that guides the processing light EL emitted from the light source system 111 to the painted film SF, as shown in Figure 3(a), a schematic cross-sectional view of the structure of the light irradiation device 11.

[0026] The light source system 111 emits, for example, multiple processing light ELs simultaneously. However, the light source system 111 may emit a single processing light EL. In this case, the light irradiation device 11 may emit a single processing light EL. In order to emit multiple processing light ELs, the light source system 111 is equipped with multiple light sources 1111, as shown in Figure 3(b), a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating an example of the structure of the light source system 111. The multiple light sources 1111 are arranged in a line at equal intervals. Each light source 1111 emits pulsed light as processing light EL. When the emission time width of the pulsed light (hereinafter referred to as "pulse width") is shortened, the processing accuracy (for example, the formation accuracy of the riblet structure described later) improves. Therefore, each light source 1111 may emit pulsed light with a relatively short pulse width as processing light EL. For example, each light source 1111 may emit pulsed light with a pulse width of 1000 nanoseconds or less as processing light EL. For example, each light source 1111 may emit pulsed light with a pulse width on the order of picoseconds as processing light EL, or it may emit pulsed light with a pulse width on the order of femtoseconds as processing light EL. Alternatively, as shown in Figure 3(c), a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating another example of the structure of the light source system 111, the light source system 111 may comprise a single light source 1111 and a splitter 1112 that splits the light from the single light source 1111 into a plurality of processing light ELs. The plurality of emission outlets from which the plurality of processing light ELs branched by the splitter 1112 are each emitted are arranged in a line at equal intervals. Examples of the splitter 1112 include at least one of an optical fiber coupler, a waveguide splitter, a lens array, a diffractive optical element, and a spatial light modulator.

[0027] The optical system 112 comprises a focus lens 1121, a galvanometer mirror 1122, and an fθ lens 1123. Multiple processing light ELs are irradiated onto the coating film SF via the focus lens 1121, the galvanometer mirror 1122, and the fθ lens 1123.

[0028] The focus lens 1121 is an optical element composed of one or more lenses, which adjusts the convergence position BF of multiple processing light ELs (in other words, the focusing position, or the irradiation position in the optical axis direction, i.e., the focal position of the optical system 112) by adjusting the position of at least some of the lenses along the optical axis. The galvanometer mirror 1122 deflects the multiple processing light ELs so that they scan the surface of the painted film SF (i.e., multiple target irradiation areas EA, each irradiated by multiple processing light ELs, move across the surface of the painted film SF). In other words, the galvanometer mirror 1122 can function as an irradiation position changing device that changes the irradiation position of multiple processing light ELs on the painted film SF with respect to the light irradiation device 11. The galvanometer mirror 1122 may also sweep the surface of the painted film SF with multiple processing light ELs emitted by the optical system 112. The galvanometer mirror 1122 comprises an X scanning mirror 1122X and a Y scanning mirror 1122Y. The X-scanning mirror 1122X reflects multiple processing light ELs toward the Y-scanning mirror 1122Y. The X-scanning mirror 1122X is oscillating or rotating in the θY direction (i.e., the direction of rotation around the Y axis). The oscillating or rotating of the X-scanning mirror 1122X causes the multiple processing light ELs to scan the surface of the coating film SF along the X-axis. The oscillating or rotating of the X-scanning mirror 1122X causes the multiple target irradiation areas EA to move along the X-axis on the coating film SF. The X-scanning mirror 1122X changes the relative positional relationship between the multiple target irradiation areas EA and the coating film SF along the X-axis. The Y-scanning mirror 1122Y reflects multiple processing light ELs toward the fθ lens 1123. The Y-scanning mirror 1122Y is oscillating or rotating in the θX direction (i.e., the direction of rotation around the X axis). The oscillating or rotating of the Y-scanning mirror 1122Y causes the multiple processing light ELs to scan the surface of the coating film SF along the Y-axis. The oscillation or rotation of the Y scanning mirror 1122Y causes multiple target irradiation areas EA to move along the Y-axis direction on the coating film SF. The Y scanning mirror 1122Y changes the relative positional relationship between the multiple target irradiation areas EA and the coating film SF along the Y-axis direction. The fθ lens 1123 is an optical element for focusing multiple processing light beams EL from the galvanometer mirror 1122 onto the coating film SF.

[0029] The fθ lens 1123 is the terminal optical element of the optical system 112, located on the light-emitting side of the optical system 112 (in other words, the one closest to the coating film SF, or located at the end of the optical path of multiple processed light ELs). However, the optical system 112 may include optical elements (e.g., a cover lens) located on the light-emitting side of the fθ lens 1123. The fθ lens 1123 may be configured to be detachable from the optical system 112. As a result, it is possible to remove the old fθ lens 1123 from the optical system 112 and then attach another fθ lens 1123 to the optical system 112. However, if the optical system 112 includes optical elements (e.g., a cover lens) located on the light-emitting side of the fθ lens 1123, these optical elements become the terminal optical elements, and these optical elements may be configured to be detachable from the optical system 112.

[0030] The directions of propagation of the multiple processing light ELs from the optical system 112 are, for example, parallel to each other. As a result, in the first embodiment, the coating film SF is simultaneously irradiated with multiple processing light ELs whose directions of propagation are parallel to each other. In other words, multiple target irradiation areas EA are simultaneously set on the coating film SF. Therefore, the throughput for processing the coating film SF is improved compared to the case where the coating film SF is irradiated with a single processing light EL. Note that the directions of propagation of the multiple processing light ELs from the optical system 112 do not have to be parallel to each other.

[0031] In Figure 1 again, the drive system 12, under the control of the control device 2, moves the light irradiation device 11 relative to the coating film SF (that is, relative to the workpiece S on which the coating film SF is formed). In other words, the drive system 12 moves the light irradiation device 11 relative to the coating film SF in such a way that it changes the relative positional relationship between the light irradiation device 11 and the coating film SF. When the relative positional relationship between the light irradiation device 11 and the coating film SF is changed, the relative positional relationship between the multiple target irradiation areas EA, each irradiated by multiple processing light ELs, and the coating film SF is also changed. For this reason, it can also be said that the drive system 12 moves the light irradiation device 11 relative to the coating film SF in such a way that it changes the relative positional relationship between the multiple target irradiation areas EA and the coating film SF.

[0032] The drive system 12 may move the light irradiation device 11 along the surface of the painted film SF. In the example shown in Figure 1, the surface of the painted film SF is a plane parallel to at least one of the X-axis and Y-axis, so the drive system 12 may move the light irradiation device 11 along at least one of the X-axis and Y-axis. As a result, the target irradiation area EA on the painted film SF moves along at least one of the X-axis and Y-axis. In other words, the range in which the light irradiation device 11 can irradiate with processing light EL is changed. The drive system 12 may also move the light irradiation device 11 along the thickness direction of the painted film SF (i.e., the direction intersecting the surface of the painted film SF). In the example shown in Figure 1, the thickness direction of the painted film SF is along the Z-axis, so the drive system 12 may move the light irradiation device 11 along the Z-axis direction. In addition to at least one of the X-axis, Y-axis and Z-axis, the drive system 12 may also move the light irradiation device 11 along at least one of the rotational directions of the θX direction, θY direction and θZ direction.

[0033] The drive system 12 is fitted with a light irradiation device 11 via a mounting member 19. The drive system 12 supports the light irradiation device 11 via the mounting member 19. The drive system 12 moves the light irradiation device 11 which is fitted with the mounting member 19. In other words, the drive system 12 moves the light irradiation device 11 together with the mounting member 19. However, the light irradiation device 11 may be fitted to the drive system 12 without the mounting member 19.

[0034] The housing device 13 comprises a ceiling member 131 and a partition member 132. The ceiling member 131 is positioned on the +Z side of the light irradiation device 11. The ceiling member 131 is a plate-shaped member aligned with the XY plane. The ceiling member 131 supports the drive system 12 via a support member 133. The partition member 132 is positioned on the outer edge (or near thereof) of the -Z side surface of the ceiling member 131. The partition member 132 is a cylindrical (e.g., cylindrical or rectangular) member extending from the ceiling member 131 toward the -Z side. The space enclosed by the ceiling member 131 and the partition member 132 becomes a housing space SP for housing the light irradiation device 11 and the drive system 12. Therefore, the drive system 12 described above moves the light irradiation device 11 within the housing space SP. Furthermore, the housing space SP includes the space between the light irradiation device 11 and the coating film SF (in particular, the space including the optical path of the processing light EL). More specifically, the containment space SP includes the space between the terminal optical element (e.g., fθ lens 1123) of the light irradiation device 11 and the coating film SF (in particular, the space including the optical path of the processed light EL).

[0035] Each of the ceiling member 131 and partition member 132 is a material capable of shielding the processing light EL. In other words, each of the ceiling member 131 and partition member 132 is opaque with respect to the wavelength of the processing light EL. As a result, the processing light EL propagating within the containment space SP does not leak out to the outside of the containment space SP (i.e., to the outside of the containment device 13). Furthermore, each of the ceiling member 131 and partition member 132 may be a material capable of dimming the processing light EL. In other words, each of the ceiling member 131 and partition member 132 may be semi-transparent with respect to the wavelength of the processing light EL. Moreover, each of the ceiling member 131 and partition member 132 is a material that does not transmit (i.e., can shield) unwanted substances generated by irradiation with processing light EL. An example of unwanted substances is at least one of the vapor and fumes of the coating film SF. As a result, unwanted substances generated within the containment space SP do not leak out to the outside of the containment space SP (i.e., to the outside of the containment device 13).

[0036] The end portion 134 of the partition wall member 132 (specifically, the end portion on the painted film SF side, and in the example shown in Figure 1, the -Z side end portion) is capable of contacting the surface of the painted film SF. When the end portion 134 is in contact with the painted film SF, the housing device 13 (i.e., the ceiling member 131 and the partition wall member 132) works in cooperation with the painted film SF to maintain the airtightness of the housing space SP. When the end portion 134 is in contact with the painted film SF, it is possible to change its shape (in particular, the shape of the contact surface of the end portion 134 that is in contact with the painted film SF (in the example shown in Figure 1, the -Z side surface), the same applies hereinafter) according to the shape of the surface of the painted film SF. For example, when the end portion 134 is in contact with a painted film SF with a planar surface, the shape of the end portion 134 becomes planar, similar to the painted film SF. For example, when the end portion 134 is in contact with a painted film SF with a curved surface, the shape of the end portion 134 becomes curved, similar to the painted film SF. As a result, the airtightness of the containment space SP is improved compared to the case where the end portion 134 cannot change its shape according to the surface shape of the coating film SF. An example of an end portion 134 that can change its shape is an end portion 134 formed from an elastic material such as rubber (in other words, a flexible material). Furthermore, as an end portion 134 that can change its shape, for example, a bellows-shaped end portion with an elastic structure may be used.

[0037] The end portion 134 may be able to adhere to the coating film SF while in contact with it. For example, the end portion 134 may be equipped with an adsorption mechanism that can adsorb to the coating film SF. When the end portion 134 adheres to the coating film SF, the airtightness of the containment space SP is further improved compared to when the end portion 134 does not adhere to the coating film SF. However, the end portion 134 does not have to be able to adhere to the coating film SF. Even in this case, as long as the end portion 134 is in contact with the coating film SF, the airtightness of the containment space SP will still be maintained to a reasonable extent.

[0038] The partition member 132 is a member that can extend and retract along the Z-axis direction by a drive system (e.g., an actuator) not shown, which operates under the control of the control device 2. For example, the partition member 132 may be a bellows-shaped member (so-called bellows). In this case, the partition member 132 can extend and retract by the extension and retraction of the bellows portion. Alternatively, for example, the partition member 132 may comprise a telescopic pipe made up of a plurality of hollow cylindrical members having different diameters. In this case, the partition member 132 can extend and retract by the relative movement of the plurality of cylindrical members. The state of the partition member 132 can be set to at least a first extended state in which the length in the Z-axis direction is relatively long due to the partition member 132 extending along the Z-axis direction, and a first contracted state in which the length in the Z-axis direction is relatively short due to the partition member 132 contracting along the Z-axis direction.

[0039] When the partition member 132 is in the first extended state, the end portion 134 is in a first contact state, capable of contacting the paint film SF. On the other hand, when the partition member 132 is in the first retracted state, the end portion 134 is in a first non-contact state, not in contact with the paint film SF. In other words, when the partition member 132 is in the first retracted state, the end portion 134 is in a first non-contact state, away from the paint film SF on the +Z side. Note that the configuration for switching the state of the end portion 134 between the first contact state and the first non-contact state is not limited to a configuration that extends and retracts the partition member 132. For example, the state of the end portion 134 may be switched between the first contact state and the first non-contact state by configuring the housing device 13 itself to be movable along the ±Z direction.

[0040] The containment device 13 is further equipped with a detection device 135. The detection device 135 detects unwanted substances in the containment space SP (i.e., substances generated by irradiation with processing light EL). The detection results of the detection device 135 are referenced by the control device 2 when changing the state of the partition wall member 132 from the first extended state to the first retracted state, as will be described in detail later.

[0041] The support device 14 supports the housing device 13. Since the housing device 13 supports the drive system 12 and the light irradiation device 11, the support device 14 substantially supports the drive system 12 and the light irradiation device 11 via the housing device 13. To support the housing device 13, the support device 14 comprises a beam member 141 and a plurality of leg members 142. The beam member 141 is positioned on the +Z side of the housing device 13. The beam member 141 is a beam-shaped member extending along the XY plane. The beam member 141 supports the housing device 13 via the support device 143. A plurality of leg members 142 are positioned on the beam member 141. The leg members 142 are rod-shaped members extending from the beam member 141 toward the -Z side.

[0042] The end portion 144 of the leg member 142 (specifically, the end portion on the side of the coating film SF, and in the example shown in Figure 1, the -Z end portion) is capable of contacting the surface of the coating film SF. As a result, the support device 14 is supported by the coating film SF (i.e., by the workpiece S). In other words, the support device 14 supports the housing device 13 with its end portion 144 in contact with the coating film SF (in other words, with the support device 14 supported by the coating film SF). The end portion 144, like the end portion 134 of the housing device 13, may be capable of changing its shape (in particular, the shape of the contact surface of the end portion 144 that contacts the coating film SF (in the example shown in Figure 1, the -Z side surface), hereinafter the same) according to the shape of the surface of the coating film SF when it comes into contact with the coating film SF. The end portion 144 may be capable of adhering to the coating film SF when it is in contact with it. For example, the end portion 144 may be equipped with an adsorption mechanism capable of adsorbing onto the coating film SF. When the end portion 144 adheres to the paint film SF, the stability of the support device 14 is improved compared to when the end portion 144 does not adhere to the paint film SF. However, it is not necessary for the end portion 144 to be able to adhere to the paint film SF.

[0043] The beam member 141 is a member that can extend and retract along at least one of the X-axis and Y-axis (or along any direction along the XY plane) by a drive system 15 that operates under the control of the control device 2. For example, the beam member 141 may comprise a telescopic pipe made up of multiple cylindrical members having different diameters. In this case, the beam member 141 can extend and retract by the relative movement of the multiple cylindrical members.

[0044] The leg member 142 is a member that can extend and retract along the Z-axis direction by a drive system 15 that operates under the control of the control device 2. For example, the leg member 142 may include a telescopic pipe made up of multiple cylindrical members having different diameters. In this case, the leg member 142 can extend and retract by the relative movement of the multiple cylindrical members. The state of the leg member 142 can be set to at least a second extended state in which the length in the Z-axis direction is relatively long because the leg member 142 extends along the Z-axis direction, and a second retracted state in which the length in the Z-axis direction is relatively short because the leg member 142 retracts along the Z-axis direction. When the leg member 142 is in the second extended state, the end 144 is in a second contact state in which it can contact the paint film SF. On the other hand, when the leg member 142 is in the second retracted state, the end 144 is in a second non-contact state in which it does not contact the paint film SF. In other words, when the leg member 142 is in the second retracted state, the end 144 is in a second non-contact state in which it is away from the paint film SF on the +Z side.

[0045] The drive system 15 moves the support device 14 relative to the painted film SF (i.e., relative to the workpiece S on which the painted film SF is formed) under the control of the control device 2. In other words, the drive system 15 moves the support device 14 relative to the painted film SF in such a way that it changes the relative positional relationship between the support device 14 and the painted film SF. Since the support device 14 supports the housing device 13, the drive system 15 essentially moves the housing device 13 relative to the painted film SF by moving the support device 14. In other words, the drive system 15 essentially moves the support device 14 relative to the painted film SF in such a way that it changes the relative positional relationship between the housing device 13 and the painted film SF. Furthermore, the housing device 13 supports the light irradiation device 11 via the drive system 12. Therefore, the drive system 15 essentially moves the light irradiation device 11 relative to the painted film SF by moving the support device 14. In other words, the drive system 15 can move the support device 14 relative to the coating film SF in a manner that substantially changes the relative positional relationship between the light irradiation device 11 and the coating film SF. To put it another way, the drive system 15 can move the support device 14 relative to the coating film SF in a manner that substantially changes the relative positional relationship between multiple target irradiation areas EA and the coating film SF.

[0046] The drive system 15 extends and retracts the beam member 141 under the control of the control device 2 in order to move the support device 14. Furthermore, the drive system 15 extends and retracts multiple leg members 142 under the control of the control device 2 in order to move the support device 14. The manner in which the support device 14 is moved by the drive system 15 will be described in detail later with reference to Figures 8 to 19.

[0047] The exhaust device 16 is connected to the containment space SP via an exhaust pipe 161. The exhaust device 16 is capable of exhausting gas from the containment space SP. In particular, by exhausting gas from the containment space SP, the exhaust device 16 can draw unwanted substances generated by the irradiation of the processing light EL from the containment space SP to the outside of the containment space SP. In particular, if these unwanted substances are present in the optical path of the processing light EL, they may affect the irradiation of the processing light EL to the coating film SF. For this reason, the exhaust device 16 particularly draws in unwanted substances along with the gas in the space, including the optical path of the processing light EL between the terminal optical element of the optical system 112 and the coating film SF. The unwanted substances drawn in by the exhaust device 16 from the containment space SP are discharged to the outside of the processing apparatus 1 via a filter 162. The filter 162 adsorbs the unwanted substances. The filter 162 may be detachable or replaceable.

[0048] The gas supply device 17 is connected to the containment space SP via an intake pipe 171. The gas supply device 17 can supply gas to the containment space SP. The gas supplied to the containment space SP may be at least one of the following: air, CDA (clean dry air), and an inert gas. Nitrogen gas is an example of an inert gas. In the first embodiment, the gas supply device 17 supplies CDA. Therefore, the containment space SP becomes a space purged by CDA. At least a portion of the CDA supplied to the containment space SP is drawn in by the exhaust device 16. The CDA drawn in by the exhaust device 16 from the containment space SP passes through the filter 162 and is discharged to the outside of the processing system SYSa.

[0049] The gas supply device 17 specifically supplies a gas such as CDA to the optical surface 1124 on the housing space SP side of the fθ lens 1123 shown in Figure 3 (i.e., the optical surface on the housing space SP side of the terminal optical element of the optical system 112). Because the optical surface 1124 faces the housing space SP, it may be exposed to unwanted substances generated by the irradiation of the processing light EL. As a result, unwanted substances may adhere to the optical surface 1124. Furthermore, because the processing light EL passes through the optical surface 1124, there is a possibility that the unwanted substances adhering to the optical surface 1124 may be baked on (i.e., fixed) by the processing light EL passing through the optical surface 1124. Unwanted substances adhering to (and even fixed to) the optical surface 1124 may become dirt on the optical surface 1124 and may affect the characteristics of the processing light EL. However, when a gas such as CDA is supplied to the optical surface 1124, contact between the optical surface 1124 and unwanted substances is prevented. Therefore, the adhesion of dirt to the optical surface 1124 is prevented. Accordingly, the gas supply device 17 also functions as an adhesion prevention device that prevents dirt from adhering to the optical surface 1124. Furthermore, even if dirt does adhere to (and even become fixed to) the optical surface 1124, the dirt may be removed (for example, blown off) by the CDA supplied to the optical surface 1124. Accordingly, the gas supply device 17 can also function as an adhesion prevention device that removes dirt that has adhered to the optical surface 1124.

[0050] The control device 2 controls the overall operation of the processing system SYSa. In particular, the control device 2 controls the light irradiation device 11, the drive system 12, the housing device 13, and the drive system 15 so that recesses C of the desired shape are formed at the desired positions, as will be described in detail later.

[0051] The control unit 2 may include, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) (or, in addition to or instead of a CPU, a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit)) and memory. The control unit 2 functions as a device that controls the operation of the machining system SYSa by having the CPU execute a computer program. This computer program is a computer program that causes the control unit 2 (e.g., the CPU) to perform (i.e., execute) the operations that the control unit 2 should perform, as described later. In other words, this computer program is a computer program that causes the control unit 2 to function so that the machining system SYSa performs the operations described later. The computer program executed by the CPU may be recorded in the memory (i.e., recording medium) of the control unit 2, or it may be recorded in any storage medium (e.g., a hard disk or semiconductor memory) that is built into the control unit 2 or can be attached to the control unit 2 externally. Alternatively, the CPU may download the computer program to be executed from an external device of the control unit 2 via a network interface.

[0052] The control device 2 does not have to be located inside the machining system SYSa; for example, it may be located outside the machining system SYSa as a server or the like. In this case, the control device 2 and the machining system SYSa may be connected by a wired and / or wireless network (or a data bus and / or communication line). As a wired network, a network using a serial bus interface, such as at least one of IEEE1394, RS-232x, RS-422, RS-423, RS-485, and USB, may be used. As a wired network, a network using a parallel bus interface may be used. As a wired network, a network using an Ethernet® compliant interface, such as at least one of 10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, and 1000BASE-T, may be used. As a wireless network, a network using radio waves may be used. An example of a network using radio waves is a network compliant with IEEE802.1x (for example, at least one of wireless LAN and Bluetooth®). As a wireless network, a network using infrared rays may be used. A network using optical communication may be used as the wireless network. In this case, the control device 2 and the processing system SYSa may be configured to enable the transmission and reception of various types of information via the network. The control device 2 may also be able to transmit information such as commands and control parameters to the processing system SYSa via the network. The processing system SYSa may be equipped with a receiving device that receives information such as commands and control parameters from the control device 2 via the network. Alternatively, a first control device that performs some of the processing performed by the control device 2 may be provided inside the processing system SYSa, while a second control device that performs other parts of the processing performed by the control device 2 may be provided outside the processing system SYSa.

[0053] Furthermore, as a recording medium for recording the computer program executed by the CPU, at least one of the following may be used: optical discs such as CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, flexible disk, MO, DVD-ROM, DVD-RAM, DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, and Blu-ray®; magnetic media such as magnetic tape; magneto-optical disks; semiconductor memory such as USB memory; and any other medium capable of storing a program. The recording medium may also include equipment capable of recording the computer program (for example, a general-purpose or dedicated device on which the computer program is implemented in a state in which it can be executed in at least one form, such as software and firmware). Moreover, each process and function included in the computer program may be realized by logical processing blocks realized within the control device 2 (i.e., the computer) when the control device 2 executes the computer program, or by hardware such as a predetermined gate array (FPGA, ASIC) provided in the control device 2, or in a form in which logical processing blocks and partial hardware modules that realize some elements of the hardware are mixed.

[0054] The foreign matter measuring device 31 measures foreign matter on the surface of the coating film SF under the control of the control device 2. Specifically, the foreign matter measuring device 31 measures foreign matter on the surface of the coating film SF in a region included in the measurement range of the foreign matter measuring device 31 (hereinafter referred to as the "measured region AMA") under the control of the control device 2. However, the foreign matter measuring device 31 may also measure foreign matter on the surface of the coating film SF independently of the control of the control device 2.

[0055] If foreign matter is present on the surface of the coating film SF, the irradiation of at least a portion of the processing light EL to the coating film SF may be obstructed by the foreign matter. In other words, if foreign matter is present on the surface of the coating film SF, at least a portion of the processing light EL may not be properly irradiated to the coating film SF. As a result, proper processing of the coating film SF by irradiation with processing light EL may be hindered. In other words, proper processing of the coating film SF by irradiation with processing light EL may be hindered by foreign matter. For this reason, the presence (typically, adhesion) of foreign matter on the surface of the coating film SF is a specific example of an abnormal event that can hinder proper processing of the coating film SF by irradiation with processing light EL. Examples of such foreign matter include dust, dirt, fine particles, moisture, and at least one of the fumes mentioned above.

[0056] The foreign matter measuring device 31 may be a measuring device capable of measuring the surface condition of the coating film SF. In other words, the foreign matter measuring device 31 may be a measuring device capable of measuring foreign matter on the surface of the coating film SF by measuring the surface condition of the coating film SF. This is because the surface condition of the coating film SF with foreign matter present is different from the surface condition of the coating film SF without foreign matter.

[0057] The foreign matter measuring device 31 is attached to the mounting member 19 to which the light irradiation device 11 is attached. Therefore, the foreign matter measuring device 31 moves in accordance with the movement of the light irradiation device 11 by the drive system 12. In other words, the foreign matter measuring device 31 moves together with the light irradiation device 11 relative to the paint film SF. As a result, the area AMA to be measured by the foreign matter measuring device 31 also moves on the paint film SF. Therefore, the foreign matter measuring device 31 can measure foreign matter in the area AMA to be measured, which can be set to a desired area on the paint film SF. However, the foreign matter measuring device 31 does not have to be attached to the mounting member 19. The foreign matter measuring device 31 does not have to be attached to the mounting member 19. The foreign matter measuring device 31 may be attached to a member other than the mounting member 19. The foreign matter measuring device 31 may be attached to the light irradiation device 11. The foreign matter measuring device 31 may be movable independently of the light irradiation device 11. The foreign matter measuring device 31 does not have to be movable.

[0058] The measurement results from the foreign object measuring device 31 (hereinafter referred to as "foreign object measurement information") are output to the control device 2. Based on the foreign object measurement information, the control device 2 performs a foreign object inspection operation on the area AMA to be measured. In other words, the control device 2 performs a foreign object inspection operation on the area AMA to be measured together with the foreign object measuring device 31. For this reason, the device (or system) including the foreign object measuring device 31 and the control device 2 may be referred to as an inspection device or inspection system that performs a foreign object inspection operation. In this case, the area AMA to be measured may be referred to as the area to be inspected.

[0059] The control device 2 may perform a foreign object detection operation as at least part of the foreign object inspection operation. That is, the control device 2 may determine whether or not a foreign object is present in the area AMA under measurement based on the foreign object measurement information. The control device 2 may also determine whether or not an abnormal event (in particular, an abnormal event in which a foreign object is present on the surface of the coating film SF) has occurred in the area AMA under measurement based on the foreign object measurement information. In this case, the foreign object measurement device 31 may perform a measurement operation to measure the presence or absence of a foreign object in the area AMA under measurement. That is, the foreign object measurement device 31 may perform a measurement operation to acquire foreign object measurement information that can be used to determine the presence or absence of a foreign object in the area AMA under measurement.

[0060] If a foreign object is present in the area under measurement AMA, the control device 2 may calculate the characteristics of the foreign object (in other words, the state or features of the foreign object) based on the foreign object measurement information. That is, the control device 2 may perform a characteristic calculation operation to calculate the characteristics of the foreign object as at least part of the foreign object inspection operation. For example, the control device 2 may calculate the shape of the foreign object, which is an example of the characteristics of the foreign object, based on the foreign object measurement information. The shape of the foreign object may include the two-dimensional shape of the foreign object (for example, the shape in a plane along the XY plane) or the three-dimensional shape of the foreign object. For example, the control device 2 may calculate the size of the foreign object, which is an example of the characteristics of the foreign object, based on the foreign object measurement information. The size of the foreign object may include at least one of the size of the foreign object in the X-axis direction, the size of the foreign object in the Y-axis direction, and the size of the foreign object in the Z-axis direction. In this case, the foreign object measurement device 31 may perform a measurement operation to measure the characteristics of the foreign object present in the area under measurement AMA. That is, the foreign object measurement device 31 may perform a measurement operation to acquire foreign object measurement information that can be used to calculate the characteristics of the foreign object in the area under measurement AMA.

[0061] If foreign matter is present in the area AMA under measurement, the control device 2 may determine the number of foreign matter based on the foreign matter measurement information. In other words, the control device 2 may perform a counting operation to calculate the number of foreign matter as at least part of the foreign matter inspection operation. In this case, the foreign matter measuring device 31 may perform a measurement operation to measure the number of foreign matter present in the area AMA under measurement. In other words, the foreign matter measuring device 31 may perform a measurement operation to acquire foreign matter measurement information that can be used to calculate the number of foreign matter in the area AMA under measurement.

[0062] The control device 2 may perform a foreign object inspection operation based on foreign object measurement information and feature information relating to the surface characteristics of the painted film SF (in particular, the characteristics of the area AMA to be measured on the surface of the painted film SF). For example, if no foreign object is present in the area AMA to be measured, the actual characteristics of the area AMA to be measured indicated by the foreign object measurement information should match the design characteristics (or ideal characteristics) of the area AMA to be measured indicated by the feature information. On the other hand, if a foreign object is present in the area AMA to be measured, for example, the actual characteristics of the area AMA to be measured indicated by the foreign object measurement information are unlikely to match the design characteristics (or ideal characteristics) of the area AMA to be measured indicated by the feature information. For this reason, the control device 2 may perform a foreign object inspection operation by comparing the foreign object measurement information and the feature information.

[0063] The foreign object measuring device 31 can be any measuring device as long as it can acquire foreign object measurement information that can be used for foreign object inspection operations. For example, the foreign object measuring device 31 may be capable of measuring the surface of the coating film SF in a non-contact manner. An example of a measuring device capable of measuring the surface of the coating film SF in a non-contact manner is a measuring device capable of optically measuring the surface of the coating film SF. Another example of a measuring device capable of measuring the area to be measured AMA in a non-contact manner is a measuring device that measures the coating film SF using at least one of sound waves and radio waves.

[0064] The foreign matter measuring device 31 may include an imaging device (i.e., a camera) 311 capable of imaging the surface of the painted film SF, as an example of a measuring device capable of optically measuring the surface of the painted film SF. For example, Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the foreign matter measuring device 311 including the imaging device 311. The imaging device 311 referred to here means a device capable of capturing an image of the surface state of the painted film SF using an image sensor in which light-receiving elements (i.e., light-receiving devices) capable of receiving light from the surface of the painted film SF are regularly arranged. An example of an image sensor is at least one of a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) image sensor and a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) image sensor. In this case, the control device 2 may perform a foreign matter inspection operation by analyzing the image captured by the imaging device 311. When the foreign matter measuring device 31 includes the imaging device 311, the area of ​​the surface of the painted film SF that is included in the imaging range of the imaging device 311 may become the area to be measured AMA.

[0065] The foreign matter measuring device 31 may include a light receiving device 312 capable of receiving light from the surface of the painted film SF, as an example of a measuring device capable of optically measuring the surface of the painted film SF. For example, Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view showing the foreign matter measuring device 31 including the light receiving device 312. Here, when foreign matter is present on the surface of the painted film SF, the light used for foreign matter inspection irradiated onto the surface of the painted film SF (especially the foreign matter) is more likely to be scattered and / or diffracted by the surface of the painted film SF compared to when no foreign matter is present on the surface of the painted film SF. In this case, the scattered light and / or diffracted light scattered by the surface of the painted film SF are relatively more likely to travel in a direction different from the direction in which the specularly reflected light used for foreign matter inspection travels. Therefore, the scattered light and / or diffracted light may contain information about the foreign matter. For this reason, the foreign matter measuring device 31 may include a light receiving device 312 capable of receiving at least one of the scattered light scattered by the surface of the painted film SF and the diffracted light diffracted by the surface of the painted film SF, as shown in Figure 5. In this case, the control device 2 may calculate the characteristics of scattered light and / or diffracted light (e.g., intensity, etc.) from the light reception result of the light receiving device 312, and perform a foreign object inspection operation based on the calculated characteristics of scattered light and / or diffracted light. Furthermore, if the foreign object measuring device 31 includes the light receiving device 312, the area on the surface of the coating film SF that is irradiated with light for foreign object inspection (i.e., the area from which scattered light and / or diffracted light is emitted) may become the area to be measured AMA.

[0066] In Figure 1 again, the foreign matter removal device 32 removes foreign matter present on the surface of the painted film SF under the control of the control device 2. In other words, the foreign matter removal device 32 performs a foreign matter removal operation to remove foreign matter under the control of the control device 2. Specifically, the foreign matter removal device 32 removes foreign matter from the surface of the painted film SF in the area included in the removal range in which the foreign matter removal device 32 can perform a foreign matter removal operation (hereinafter referred to as the "removal area RA"). Note that the foreign matter removal device 32 may remove foreign matter present on the surface of the painted film SF independently of the control of the control device 2.

[0067] The removal area RA may coincide with the measured area AMA described above. In other words, the foreign matter measuring device 31 and the foreign matter removal device 32 may be aligned so that the removal area RA and the measured area AMA coincide. Alternatively, the removal area RA may partially overlap with the measured area AMA described above. In other words, the foreign matter measuring device 31 and the foreign matter removal device 32 may be aligned so that the removal area RA and the measured area AMA partially overlap. Alternatively, the removal area RA may not overlap with the measured area AMA described above. In other words, the foreign matter measuring device 31 and the foreign matter removal device 32 may be aligned so that the removal area RA and the measured area AMA do not overlap. Figure 1 shows an example where the removal area RA and the measured area AMA coincide.

[0068] The foreign matter removal device 32 is attached to the mounting member 19 to which the light irradiation device 11 is attached. Therefore, the foreign matter removal device 32 moves in accordance with the movement of the light irradiation device 11 by the drive system 12. In other words, the foreign matter removal device 32 moves together with the light irradiation device 11 relative to the paint film SF. As a result, the removal region RA from which the foreign matter removal device 32 removes foreign matter also moves on the paint film SF. Therefore, the foreign matter removal device 32 can remove foreign matter present in the removal region RA, which can be set to a desired region on the paint film SF. However, the foreign matter removal device 32 does not have to be attached to the mounting member 19. The foreign matter removal device 32 may be attached to a member other than the mounting member 19. The foreign matter removal device 32 may be attached to the light irradiation device 11. The foreign matter removal device 32 may be movable independently of the light irradiation device 11. The foreign matter removal device 32 may be movable independently of the foreign matter measuring device 31. The foreign matter removal device 32 does not have to be movable.

[0069] The foreign matter removal device 32 may include any device as long as it can remove foreign matter. For example, the foreign matter removal device 32 may remove foreign matter from the removal area RA by supplying fluid to the removal area RA.

[0070] Specifically, for example, the foreign matter removal device 32 may remove foreign matter from the removal area RA by supplying a gas, which is an example of a fluid, to the removal area RA. More specifically, for example, the foreign matter removal device 32 may blow gas onto the removal area RA. In this case, the foreign matter in the removal area RA is blown away by the gas blown onto the removal area RA. As a result, the foreign matter is removed from the removal area RA.

[0071] Alternatively, for example, the foreign matter removal device 32 may remove foreign matter from the removal area RA by supplying a liquid, which is an example of a fluid, to the removal area RA in addition to or instead of gas. More specifically, for example, the foreign matter removal device 32 may spray (or eject) a liquid onto the removal area RA. In this case, the foreign matter in the removal area RA is washed away by the liquid sprayed onto the removal area RA. As a result, the foreign matter is removed from the removal area RA. Alternatively, depending on the type of foreign matter or the degree to which the foreign matter adheres to the paint film SF, the foreign matter removal device 32 may supply a cleaning solution (for example, a liquid containing a cleaning agent such as a surfactant) to the removal area RA, and then supply a liquid (for example, water) to the removal area RA to wash away the cleaning solution. When a cleaning solution is used in this way, the likelihood of removing foreign matter that is difficult to remove with water, etc., or foreign matter that adheres relatively strongly to the paint film SF, is higher compared to when a cleaning solution is not used. Furthermore, depending on the type of foreign matter or the degree to which it adheres to the coating film SF, after supplying liquid or cleaning solution to the removal area RA, or in parallel with the supply of liquid, a treatment to promote the removal of foreign matter may be performed on the portion of the surface of the coating film SF to which the liquid has been supplied (typically the removal area RA). The treatment to promote the removal of foreign matter may include at least one of the following: ultrasonic cleaning by irradiating the coating film SF with ultrasonic waves; bubble cleaning by generating bubbles (e.g., microvalves) in the liquid; wiping by wiping the surface of the coating film SF using a wiping member such as a cloth; brushing by peeling off foreign matter from the surface of the coating film SF using a number of thin rod-shaped members (e.g., brushes); and polishing by polishing the surface of the coating film SF using an polishing member such as a polishing pad.

[0072] Furthermore, the foreign matter removal device 32 may spray a solid (for example, minute solid particles) into the removal area RA. In this case, the solid particles may be sprayed into the removal area RA together with a fluid (gas, liquid).

[0073] However, if foreign matter is removed using a liquid, any remaining liquid on the coating film SF may hinder the proper processing of the coating film SF. In other words, the remaining liquid may become new foreign matter. Therefore, after the foreign matter is removed using a liquid, a process to remove the liquid from the surface of the coating film SF may be performed before the coating film SF is processed. An example of a process to remove liquid from the surface of the coating film SF is to dry the surface of the coating film SF that has been coated with liquid, and to blow off the liquid on the coating film SF by blowing gas onto it. The specific procedures for foreign object inspection using the foreign object measuring device 31 and foreign object removal using the foreign object removal device 32 will be described in detail later, so a detailed explanation is omitted here.

[0074] Display 4 is a display device capable of displaying a desired image under the control of control device 2. For example, display 4 may display information related to the processing system SYSa. For example, display 4 may display information related to the workpiece S. For example, display 4 may display information related to the coating film SF. For example, display 4 may display information related to at least one of the processing operation, foreign matter inspection operation, and foreign matter removal operation.

[0075] Furthermore, the display 4 does not necessarily have to be located inside the machining system SYSa. For example, the display 4 may be located outside the machining system SYSa as an external display. In this case, the display 4 and the machining system SYSa may be connected by a wired and / or wireless network (or by a cable, data bus and / or communication line). In this case, the control device 2 may be configured to enable the transmission and reception (i.e., input and output) of various types of information with the display 4 via the network. The display 4 may include a transmission / reception unit (i.e., input / output unit) that transmits and receives information with the control device 2 (and further, with or without the control device 2, other devices provided by the machining system SYS), and a display unit that displays images.

[0076] (1-2) Specific examples of operation by the SYSa processing system (1-2-1) Specific examples of structures formed by the SYSa processing system As explained with reference to Figure 2, in the first embodiment, the processing system SYSa forms recesses C in the coating film SF. The recesses C are formed in the portion of the coating film SF that is actually irradiated with processing light EL. Therefore, by appropriately setting the position on the coating film SF where the processing light EL is actually irradiated (i.e., the position where the target irradiation area EA, to which the processing light EL is scheduled to be irradiated, is set), recesses C can be formed at desired positions on the coating film SF. In other words, it becomes possible to form a structure made of the coating film SF on the workpiece S.

[0077] Specifically, as described above, the processing system SYSa moves the surface of the painted film SF to the target irradiation area EA using at least one of the galvanometer mirror 1122 and the drive system 12. The processing system SYSa irradiates the surface of the painted film SF with processing light EL at the timing when the target irradiation area EA overlaps with the area of ​​the surface of the painted film SF that should actually be irradiated with processing light EL (i.e., the area to be processed) during the period when the target irradiation area EA is moving across the surface of the painted film SF. On the other hand, the processing system SYSa does not irradiate the surface of the painted film SF with processing light EL at the timing when the target irradiation area EA does not overlap with the area of ​​the surface of the painted film SF that should actually be irradiated with processing light EL during the period when the target irradiation area EA is moving across the surface of the painted film SF. In other words, the processing system SYSa does not irradiate the surface of the painted film SF with processing light EL at the timing when the target irradiation area EA overlaps with the area of ​​the surface of the painted film SF that should not actually be irradiated with processing light EL (i.e., the area that should not be processed) during the period when the target irradiation area EA is moving across the surface of the painted film SF. As a result, a structure (i.e., a patterned structure) is formed on the workpiece S by the coating film SF, corresponding to the pattern (or distribution) of the region in the coating film SF that was actually irradiated with the processing light EL.

[0078] In the first embodiment, the machining system SYSa, under the control of the control device 2, forms a riblet structure, which is an example of such a structure made of a coating film SF, on the workpiece S. The riblet structure is a structure that can reduce the fluid resistance (particularly frictional resistance and turbulent frictional resistance) of the surface of the coating film SF. The fluid resistance of the surface of the workpiece S on which the riblet structure is formed is smaller than the fluid resistance of the surface of the workpiece S on which the riblet structure is not formed. For this reason, the riblet structure can also be said to be a structure that can reduce the fluid resistance of the surface of the workpiece S. In other words, the riblet structure can also be said to be a structure that can change the aerodynamic characteristics of the workpiece S. The term "fluid" here refers to any medium (gas, liquid) flowing relative to the surface of the coating film SF. For example, a medium flowing relative to a stationary workpiece S and a stationary medium distributed around a moving workpiece S are examples of fluids.

[0079] An example of a riblet structure is shown in Figures 6(a) and 6(b). As shown in Figures 6(a) and 7(b), the riblet structure is a structure in which a plurality of concave structures CP1 (i.e., concave structures CP1 formed linearly so as to extend along the first direction) are arranged along a second direction (in the example shown in Figures 6(a) and 6(b)) that intersects the first direction, and these structures are formed by continuously forming recesses C along a first direction (in the example shown in Figures 6(a) and 6(b)) Therefore, a riblet structure can also be described as a structure in which multiple convex structures CP2 extending linearly along a first direction (e.g., the Y-axis direction) are arranged along a second direction (e.g., the X-axis direction) that intersects the first direction. In other words, a riblet structure can also be described as a structure in which multiple convex structures CP2 extending along a first direction have a periodic direction in the second direction that intersects the first direction. The riblet structures shown in Figures 6(a) and 6(b) are periodic structures. However, a riblet structure may also be a non-periodic structure.

[0080] The spacing between two adjacent concave structures CP1 (i.e., the arrangement pitch P1 of the concave structures CP1) is, for example, several microns to several hundred microns, but may be of other sizes. Furthermore, the depth D of each concave structure CP1 (i.e., the depth in the Z-axis direction) is, for example, several microns to several hundred microns, but may be of other sizes. The depth D of each concave structure CP1 may be less than or equal to the arrangement pitch P1 of the concave structures CP1. The depth D of each concave structure CP1 may be less than or equal to half the arrangement pitch P1 of the concave structures CP1. The shape of the cross-section of each concave structure CP1 including the Z-axis (specifically, the cross-section along the XZ plane) is a bowl-shaped curve, but may be a triangle, a quadrilateral, or a polygon with pentagons or more.

[0081] The spacing between two adjacent convex structures CP2 (i.e., the arrangement pitch P2 of the convex structures CP2) is, for example, several microns to several hundred microns, but may be of other sizes. Furthermore, the height H of each convex structure CP2 (i.e., the height in the Z-axis direction) is, for example, several microns to several hundred microns, but may be of other sizes. The height H of each convex structure CP2 may be less than or equal to the arrangement pitch P2 of the convex structures CP2. The height H of each convex structure CP2 may be less than or equal to half of the arrangement pitch P2 of the convex structures CP2. The shape of the cross-section of each convex structure CP2 including the Z-axis (specifically, the cross-section along the XZ plane) is a mountain shape with a curved slope, but may be a triangle, a quadrilateral, or a polygon with pentagons or more. In addition, each convex structure CP2 may have a ridge.

[0082] Furthermore, since the riblet structure formed by the SYSa machining system may be an existing riblet structure, such as the one described in Chapter 5 of the "Handbook of Mechanical Engineering, Basic Edition, α4 ​​Fluid Engineering" compiled by the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers, a detailed explanation of the riblet structure itself will be omitted.

[0083] As described above, such a riblet structure can reduce the fluid resistance of the surface of the workpiece S on which the riblet structure is formed. As described above, the riblet structure can reduce the fluid resistance of the surface of the workpiece S on which the riblet structure is formed. For this reason, the workpiece S may be an object (e.g., a structure) for which it is desirable to reduce fluid resistance. For example, the workpiece S may include an object (i.e., a moving body) that is movable so as to move through a fluid (e.g., at least one of a gas and a liquid). Specifically, for example, the workpiece S may include the airframe of an aircraft PL (e.g., at least one of the fuselage PL1, main wing PL2, vertical stabilizer PL3, and horizontal stabilizer PL4), as shown in Figures 7(a) to 7(c). In this case, as shown in Figures 7(a) and 7(c), the processing apparatus 1 (or processing system SYSa, hereafter the same in this paragraph) may be self-supporting on the airframe of the aircraft PL by a support device 14. Alternatively, because the end portion 144 of the leg member 142 of the support device 14 can adhere to the paint film SF, the processing device 1 may be attached to the aircraft PL so as to be suspended (i.e., hanging) from the aircraft PL by the support device 14, as shown in Figure 7(b). Furthermore, because the end portion 144 of the leg member 142 of the support device 14 can adhere to the paint film SF and the end portion 134 of the bulkhead member 132 of the housing device 13 can adhere to the paint film SF, the processing device 1 can stand on its own on the paint film SF even when the surface of the paint film SF is facing upward and inclined with respect to the horizontal plane. Furthermore, the processing device 1 can be attached to the paint film SF so as to be suspended from the paint film SF even when the surface of the paint film SF is facing downward and inclined with respect to the horizontal plane. In any case, the light irradiation device 11 can move along the surface of the aircraft by the drive system 12 and / or by the movement of the support device 14. Therefore, the processing system SYSa can form a riblet structure using the coating film SF even on workpieces S such as aircraft fuselages (i.e., workpieces S whose surfaces are curved, whose surfaces are inclined with respect to the horizontal plane, or whose surfaces face downwards).

[0084] In addition, for example, the workpiece S may include the body or aerodynamic parts of an automobile. For example, the workpiece S may include the hull of a ship. For example, the workpiece S may include the body of a rocket. For example, the workpiece S may include a turbine (for example, at least one of a hydraulic turbine and a wind turbine, and in particular its turbine blades). For example, the workpiece S may include parts that constitute an object that is movable so as to move through a fluid. For example, the workpiece S may include an object that is fixed in a flowing fluid for at least a portion of its contents. Specifically, for example, the workpiece S may include a bridge girder installed in a river or the sea. For example, the workpiece S may include piping through which fluid flows. In this case, the inner wall of the piping can become the surface of the workpiece S described above.

[0085] The example of the workpiece S given here is a relatively large object (for example, an object on the order of several meters to several hundred meters in size). In this case, as shown in Figures 7(a) to 7(c), the size of the light irradiation device 11 is smaller than the size of the workpiece S. However, the workpiece S can be an object of any size. For example, the workpiece S may be an object on the order of kilometers, centimeters, millimeters, or micrometers in size.

[0086] The characteristics of the riblet structure described above may be set to appropriate characteristics that appropriately reduce friction, depending on what kind of object the workpiece S is. In other words, the characteristics of the riblet structure described above may be optimized to appropriately reduce friction, depending on what kind of object the workpiece S is. More specifically, the characteristics of the riblet structure may be set to appropriate characteristics that appropriately reduce friction, depending on at least one of the following: the type of fluid distributed around the workpiece S during use (i.e., operation), the relative velocity of the workpiece S with respect to the fluid, and the shape of the workpiece S. Furthermore, the characteristics of the riblet structure described above may be set to appropriate characteristics that appropriately reduce friction, depending on what kind of object the workpiece S is and on which part of that object the riblet structure is formed. For example, if the workpiece S is the fuselage of an aircraft PL, the characteristics of the riblet structure formed on the fuselage PL1 may be different from those of the riblet structure formed on the wing PL2.

[0087] The characteristics of the riblet structure may include the size of the riblet structure. The size of the riblet structure may include at least one of the following: the arrangement pitch P1 of the concave structures CP1, the depth D of each concave structure CP1, the arrangement pitch P2 of the convex structures CP2, and the height H of each convex structure CP2. The characteristics of the riblet structure may include the shape of the riblet structure (for example, the shape of the cross section including the Z axis (specifically, the cross section along the XZ plane)). The characteristics of the riblet structure may include the extension direction of the riblet structure (i.e., the extension direction of the concave structures CP1). The characteristics of the riblet structure may include the formation location of the riblet structure.

[0088] For example, if the workpiece S is the fuselage of an aircraft that cruising at an altitude of 10 km and a speed of 1000 km / h, the arrangement pitch P1 of the concave structure CP1 (i.e., the arrangement pitch P2 of the convex structure CP2) may be set to approximately 78 micrometers.

[0089] (1-2-2) Flow of the processing operation Next, referring to Figures 8 to 19, we will explain the flow of machining operations for forming the riblet structure.

[0090] First, as described above, multiple processing light ELs are deflected by the galvanometer mirror 1122. In order to form a riblet structure, the galvanometer mirror 1122 deflects the multiple processing light ELs by alternately repeating a scanning operation, in which multiple target irradiation areas EA are moved along the Y-axis on the surface of the painted film SF and each of the multiple processing light ELs is irradiated onto the corresponding target irradiation area EA at a desired timing, and a stepping operation, in which multiple target irradiation areas EA are moved by a predetermined amount along at least the X-axis on the surface of the painted film SF. In this case, the Y-axis may be called the scanning axis, and the X-axis may be called the stepping axis.

[0091] Here, there is a limit to the size of the area on the surface of the painted film SF in which multiple processing light ELs can be scanned by controlling the galvanometer mirror 1122 while the light irradiation device 11 remains stationary over the painted film SF. Therefore, in the first embodiment, as shown in Figure 8, the control device 2 sets multiple processing shot areas SA on the surface of the painted film SF (in particular, the area of ​​the painted film SF in which the riblet structure should be formed). Each processing shot area SA corresponds to an area on the painted film SF in which multiple processing light ELs can be scanned by controlling the galvanometer mirror 1122 while the light irradiation device 11 remains stationary over the painted film SF. The shape of each processing shot area SA is rectangular, but its shape is arbitrary.

[0092] The control device 2 controls the light irradiation device 11 to irradiate a portion of one processing shot area SA (e.g., SA1) with multiple processing light ELs deflected by the galvanometer mirror 1122, thereby forming a riblet structure in that processing shot area SA (SA1). Subsequently, the control device 2 controls at least one of the drive systems 12 and 15 to move the light irradiation device 11 relative to the coating film SF, thereby positioning the light irradiation device 11 in a location where multiple processing light ELs can be irradiated onto another processing shot area SA (e.g., SA2). Subsequently, the control device 2 controls the light irradiation device 11 to irradiate the other processing shot area SA (SA2) with multiple processing light ELs deflected by the galvanometer mirror 1122, thereby forming a riblet structure in that other processing shot area SA. The control device 2 repeats the following operations for all processing shot areas SA1 to SA16 to form the riblet structure.

[0093] The following explanation will continue using the example of forming a riblet structure in the processing shot regions SA1 to SA4 shown in Figure 8. In the following explanation, we will use an example where two adjacent processing shot regions SA are located within the containment space SP along the X-axis. However, the same operation will be performed even if any number of processing shot regions SA are located within the containment space SP. Furthermore, the operation of forming the riblet structure shown below is merely an example, and the processing system SYS may perform operations different from those shown below to form the riblet structure. In short, the processing system SYS may perform any operation as long as it can irradiate the workpiece S with multiple processing light ELs to form a riblet structure on the workpiece S.

[0094] As shown in Figure 9, first, the control device 2 controls the drive system 15 to move the support device 14 relative to the coating film SF so that the housing device 13 is positioned in a first housing position where the processing shot areas SA1 and SA2 are located within the housing space SP. In other words, the control device 2 moves the housing device 13, supported by the support device 14, so that the processing shot areas SA1 and SA2 are covered by the housing device 13. Furthermore, the control device 2 controls the drive system 12 to move the light irradiation device 11 relative to the coating film SF so that the light irradiation device 11 is positioned in a first irradiation position where multiple processing light ELs can be irradiated onto the processing shot area SA1. After the housing device 13 is positioned in the first housing position and the light irradiation device 11 is positioned in the first irradiation position, the partition wall member 132 enters a first extended state. Consequently, the end portion 134 of the partition wall member 132 comes into contact with and adheres to the coating film SF. Similarly, the multiple leg members 142 enter a second extended state. Therefore, the ends 144 of the multiple leg members 142 come into contact with and adhere to the paint film SF.

[0095] Subsequently, as shown in Figures 10(a) and 10(b), the control device 2 controls the light irradiation device 11 (particularly the galvanometer mirror 1122) so that multiple processing light ELs scan the processing shot area SA1. Specifically, in order to perform the scanning operation described above, the control device 2 controls the Y scanning mirror 1122Y of the galvanometer mirror 1122 so that multiple processing light ELs scan a certain area within the processing shot area SA1 along the Y axis. While the scanning operation is being performed, the light source system 111 emits multiple processing light ELs. Subsequently, in order to perform the step operation described above, the control device 2 rotates at least the X scanning mirror 1122X of the galvanometer mirror 1122 by a unit step amount. While the step operation is being performed, the light source system 111 does not emit multiple processing light ELs. Subsequently, in order to perform the scanning operation described above, the control device 2 controls the Y scanning mirror 1122Y of the galvanometer mirror 1122 so that multiple processing light ELs scan a certain area within the processing shot area SA1 along the Y axis. In this manner, the control device 2 controls the galvanometer mirror 1122 so that multiple processing light ELs scan the entire processing shot area SA1 (or a portion of the processing shot area SA1 in which the riblet structure should be formed) by alternately repeating scanning and stepping operations. Note that multiple processing light ELs may be emitted while the stepping operation is being performed.

[0096] In other words, in the first embodiment, as shown in Figure 11, a plan view showing the scanning trajectory of the processing light EL (i.e., the movement trajectory of the target irradiation area EA) during a period in which scanning and stepping operations are repeated, the processing apparatus 1 sequentially performs scanning operations on multiple scan areas SCA set within the processing shot area SA. Figure 11 shows an example in which six scan areas SCA#1 to SCA#6 are set within the processing shot area SA. Each scan area SCA is an area scanned by multiple processing light ELs irradiated in a single scanning operation (i.e., a series of scanning operations without stepping operations). Each scan area SCA is an area in which multiple target irradiation areas EA move in a single scanning operation. In this case, in a single scanning operation, the target irradiation areas EA move from the scan start position SC_start to the scan end position SC_end of each scan area SCA. Such scan areas SCA are typically areas that extend along the Y-axis direction (i.e., the scanning direction of the multiple processing light ELs). Multiple scan areas SCA are aligned along the X-axis direction (i.e., the direction intersecting the scanning direction of the multiple processing light ELs).

[0097] In this case, the machining system SYSa starts the scan operation from one of the multiple scan regions SCA set in a certain machining shot region SA, which is located furthest to the +X side or furthest to the -X side. For example, Figure 11 shows an example in which the machining system SYSa starts the scan operation from scan region SCA#1, which is located furthest to the -X side. In this case, the control device 2 controls the galvanometer mirror 1122 so that the machining light EL can be irradiated onto the scan start position SC_start#1 of scan region SCA#1 (for example, the -Y side end of scan region SCA#1 or its vicinity). In other words, the control device 2 controls the galvanometer mirror 1122 so that the target irradiation region EA is set at the scan start position SC_start#1 of scan region SCA#1. Subsequently, the machining system SYSa performs a scan operation on scan region SCA#1. Specifically, the control device 2 controls the galvano mirror 1122 so that multiple target irradiation areas EA move from the scan start position SC_start#1 of scan area SCA#1 toward the scan end position SC_end#1 of scan area SCA#1 (for example, the +Y end of scan area SCA#1 or its vicinity). Furthermore, the control device 2 controls the light irradiation device 11 so that each of the multiple processing light ELs irradiates the corresponding target irradiation area EA at a desired timing. As a result, scan area SCA#1 is scanned by multiple processing light ELs. Note that in Figure 11, for the sake of simplicity, the movement trajectory of one target irradiation area EA within each scan area SCA is shown, but in reality, multiple target irradiation areas EA move within each scan area SCA. In other words, in Figure 11, for the sake of simplicity, the scanning trajectory of one processing light EL within each scan area SCA is shown, but in reality, each scan area SCA is scanned by multiple processing light ELs.

[0098] After the scanning operation for scan region SCA#1 is completed, the machining system SYSa performs a step operation to perform a scanning operation for another scan region SCA different from scan region SCA#1. Specifically, the control device 2 controls the galvanometer mirror 1122 so that the machining light EL can be irradiated onto the scan start position SC_start#2 of scan region SCA#2, which is adjacent to scan region SCA#1 along the X-axis (for example, the -Y end of scan region SCA#2 or its vicinity). In other words, the control device 2 controls the galvanometer mirror 1122 so that the target irradiation region EA is set at the scan start position SC_start#2 of scan region SCA#2. As a result, as shown in Figure 11, the target irradiation region EA moves along the X-axis and Y-axis directions, respectively. In this case, the amount of movement of the target irradiation region EA in the X-axis direction may be the same as the size of scan region SCA in the X-axis direction. The amount of movement of the target irradiation region EA in the Y-axis direction may be the same as the size of scan region SCA in the Y-axis direction.

[0099] Subsequently, the processing system SYSa performs a scan operation on the scan region SCA#2. Specifically, the control device 2 controls the galvanometer mirror 1122 so that multiple target irradiation regions EA move from the scan start position SC_start#2 of the scan region SCA#2 toward the scan end position SC_end#2 of the scan region SCA#2 (for example, the +Y end of the scan region SCA#2 or its vicinity). Furthermore, the control device 2 controls the light irradiation device 11 so that each of the multiple processing light ELs irradiates the corresponding target irradiation region EA at a desired timing. As a result, the scan region SCA#2 is scanned by multiple processing light ELs.

[0100] From this point onward, the same operation is repeated until the scan operation from scan area SCA#3 to SCA#6 is completed.

[0101] In the example shown in Figure 11, the scanning direction of the processing light EL due to the scanning operation is fixed in the +Y axis direction. The movement direction of the target irradiation area EA due to the scanning operation is fixed in the +Y axis direction. In other words, in the example shown in Figure 11, the scanning direction of the processing light EL due to scanning operations performed multiple times within the processing shot area SA (i.e., the movement direction of the target irradiation area EA, hereafter the same) will be the same to one another. The scanning directions of multiple processing light ELs scanning multiple scan areas SCA will be the same to one another. The movement direction of the target irradiation area EA within multiple scan areas SCA will be the same to one another. Specifically, the scanning direction of the processing light EL due to scanning operations performed on scan area SCA#1, the scanning direction of the processing light EL due to scanning operations performed on scan area SCA#2, ..., the scanning direction of the processing light EL due to scanning operations performed on scan area SCA#6 will be the same to one another.

[0102] Through the repetition of such scanning and stepping operations, a riblet structure is formed in the processing shot area SA1. As shown in Figures 10(a) and 10(b), the width of the area scanned by the processing light EL (i.e., the width of the processing shot area SA, especially the width in the X-axis direction) is greater than the width of the light irradiation device 11 (especially the width in the X-axis direction).

[0103] During the repetition of such scanning and stepping operations, the operation of the galvanometer mirror 1122 may cause a displacement of the target irradiation area EA. For example, if the galvanometer mirror 1122 continues to operate, its temperature may change (typically increase). When the temperature of the galvanometer mirror 1122 changes, its properties may change compared to before the temperature change. As a result, the position of the target irradiation area EA relative to the galvanometer mirror 1122 may change (i.e., a displacement of the target irradiation area EA occurs). Such a displacement of the target irradiation area EA may hinder the proper processing of the painted film SF. Therefore, the control device 2 may control the drive system 12 to move the light irradiation device 11 relative to the painted film SF in order to reduce the displacement of the target irradiation area EA (i.e., to bring the target irradiation area EA closer to its original position).

[0104] The control device 2 controls the drive system 15 so that the multiple leg members 142 remain in the second extended state while the light irradiation device 11 is irradiating with processing light EL. As a result, the ends 144 of the multiple leg members 142 continue to adhere to the coating film SF. Consequently, the stability of the support device 14 is improved, reducing the possibility that the target irradiation area EA of the processing light EL may unintentionally shift on the coating film SF due to the instability of the support device 14. However, for at least part of the period while the light irradiation device 11 is irradiating with processing light EL, some of the multiple leg members 142 may be in the second contracted state, as long as the support device 14 can stand on its own on the coating film SF (or can adhere to the coating film SF in a way that it is suspended from the coating film SF).

[0105] The control device 2 controls a drive system (not shown) that expands and contracts the partition member 132 so that the partition member 132 remains in the first extended state while the light irradiation device 11 is irradiating with processing light EL. As a result, the end portion 134 of the partition member 132 remains attached to the coating film SF. Consequently, the airtightness of the containment space SP is maintained, and the processing light EL propagating within the containment space SP does not leak out to the outside of the containment space SP (i.e., to the outside of the containment device 13). Furthermore, unwanted substances generated within the containment space SP do not leak out to the outside of the containment space SP (i.e., to the outside of the containment device 13).

[0106] Furthermore, there is a possibility that at least a portion of the end portion 134, which should be attached to the coating film SF, may detach from the coating film SF due to some factor. In this case, if the light irradiation device 11 continues to irradiate with processing light EL, at least one of the processing light EL and unwanted substances may leak out of the containment device 13. Therefore, if the control device 2 detects that at least a portion of the end portion 134 has detached from the coating film SF during the period in which the light irradiation device 11 is irradiating with processing light EL, it may control the light irradiation device 11 to stop irradiating with processing light EL.

[0107] Subsequently, as shown in Figure 12, the control device 2 controls the drive system 12 so that the light irradiation device 11 moves from the first irradiation position to the second irradiation position, which allows the light irradiation device 11 to irradiate the processing shot area SA2 with multiple processing light ELs. While the light irradiation device 11 is moving, the control device 2 controls the light irradiation device 11 so that it does not irradiate the processing light ELs.

[0108] Subsequently, as shown in Figures 13(a) and 13(b), the control device 2 controls the light irradiation device 11 (particularly the galvanometer mirror 1122) so that multiple processing light ELs scan the processing shot area SA2. Specifically, the control device 2 alternately repeats the scanning operation described above and the stepping operation described above to control the light irradiation device 11 (particularly the galvanometer mirror 1122) so that multiple processing light ELs scan the entire processing shot area SA2 (or a portion of the processing shot area SA2 in which the riblet structure is to be formed). As a result, a riblet structure is formed in the processing shot area SA2. Note that the multiple concave structures CP1 constituting the riblet structure in the processing shot area SA1 may be formed to be continuously connected to each of the multiple concave structures CP1 constituting the riblet structure in the processing shot area SA2 (or other processing shot area SA) adjacent to the processing shot area SA1. Alternatively, the multiple concave structures CP1 constituting the riblet structure within the processing shot area SA1 may be formed so as not to be connected to each other with respect to the multiple concave structures CP1 constituting the riblet structure within the processing shot area SA2. For example, the continuous length of a single concave structure CP1 formed as a result of scanning the processing light EL within the processing shot area SA depends on the size of the processing shot area SA (particularly the size in the Y-axis direction, which is the scanning direction of the processing light EL). Therefore, if the size of the processing shot area SA is large enough to realize a continuous length for the riblet structure to perform the above-described function, the multiple concave structures CP1 constituting the riblet structure within the processing shot area SA1 may be formed so as not to be connected to each other with respect to the multiple concave structures CP1 constituting the riblet structure within the processing shot area SA2. As an example, if the object to be processed S is an aircraft, the continuous length for which the riblet structure can perform the above-described function is approximately a few millimeters, according to calculations based on the airspeed and turbulence frequency during aircraft operation (typically during cruising).Therefore, if a processing shot area SA with a size in the Y-axis direction larger than approximately several millimeters can be set on the surface of the coating film SF, the multiple concave structures CP1 constituting the riblet structure within the processing shot area SA1 may be formed so as not to be connected to each other with respect to the multiple concave structures CP1 constituting the riblet structure within the processing shot area SA2.

[0109] When a riblet structure is formed in the processing shot area SA2, there are no processing shot areas SA in the containment space SP where a riblet structure has not yet been formed. Therefore, simply moving the light irradiation device 11 within the containment space SP by the drive system 12 is not enough for the light irradiation device 11 to irradiate the processing shot areas SA where a riblet structure has not yet been formed with multiple processing light ELs to form a riblet structure. Thus, when there are no processing shot areas SA in the containment space SP where a riblet structure has not yet been formed, the control device 2 controls the drive system 15 by moving the support device 14 (i.e., by moving the containment device 13) so that processing shot areas SA where a riblet structure has not yet been formed are newly positioned within the containment space SP.

[0110] Specifically, as shown in Figure 14, first, the control device 2 controls a drive system (not shown) that extends and retracts the partition wall member 132 so that the state of the partition wall member 132 switches from the first extended state to the first retracted state. As a result, the end portion 134 of the partition wall member 132 separates from the coating film SF. Furthermore, during the period when the support device 14 is moving, the control device 2 controls the light irradiation device 11 so that it does not irradiate the processing light EL. Therefore, even if the end portion 134 separates from the coating film SF, there is no possibility that at least one of the processing light EL or unwanted substances will leak out of the containment device 13.

[0111] However, although unwanted substances present in the containment space SP are sucked out to the outside of the containment space SP by the exhaust device 16 described above, it is possible that, for some reason, not all of the unwanted substances present in the containment space SP are sucked out by the exhaust device 16 (i.e., some unwanted substances remain in the containment space SP). In this case, when the end portion 134 separates from the paint film SF, the unwanted substances may leak out to the outside of the containment device 13. For this reason, the control device 2 may decide whether or not to switch the partition member 132 from the first extended state to the first retracted state based on the detection result of the detection device 135 that detects unwanted substances in the containment space SP. If unwanted substances remain in the containment space SP, the control device 2 does not need to switch the partition member 132 from the first extended state to the first retracted state. In this case, the exhaust device 16 continues to suck out the unwanted substances remaining in the containment space SP. On the other hand, if no unwanted substances remain in the containment space SP, the control device 2 may switch the partition member 132 from the first extended state to the first retracted state.

[0112] Furthermore, the control device 2 controls the drive system 15 so that the state of at least some of the leg members 142 that move relative to the paint film SF in conjunction with the movement of the support device 14 (in particular, the extension of the beam member 141 which had been contracted, as will be described later) switches from the second extended state to the second contracted state. The leg member 142 that moves relative to the paint film SF in conjunction with the extension of the beam member 141 which had been contracted is typically the leg member 142 located on the front side in the direction of movement of the support device 14 (i.e., the direction of movement of the housing device 13) among the multiple leg members 142. In the example shown in Figure 14, the support device 14 moves toward the +X side, and the leg member 142 located on the front side in the direction of movement of the support device 14 is the leg member 142 located on the +X side. Hereinafter, the leg member 142 located on the front side in the direction of movement of the support device 14 will be referred to as the "front leg member 142". As a result, the end 144 of the front leg member 142 moves away from the paint film SF.

[0113] Subsequently, as shown in Figure 15, the control device 2 controls the drive system 15 so that the housing device 13 moves from the first housing position to the second housing position where the processing shot areas SA3 and SA4 are located within the housing space SP. Specifically, the control device 2 controls the drive system 15 so that the beam member 141 extends along the direction of movement of the support device 14. As a result, the beam member 141 extends while supporting the housing device 13 (and further, while supporting the light irradiation device 11 supported by the housing device 13). Furthermore, in parallel with the movement of the support device 14, the control device 2 controls the drive system 12 so that the light irradiation device 11 moves from the second irradiation position to the third irradiation position where the light irradiation device 11 can irradiate the processing shot area SA3 with multiple processing light ELs. Thus, in the first embodiment, the support device 14 is self-propelled while being supported by the workpiece S. For this reason, the support device 14 may also be called a self-propelled device.

[0114] During the period when the support device 14 is moving (i.e., when the retracted beam member 141 is extending), the control device 2 controls a drive system (not shown) that extends and retracts the partition wall member 132 so that the partition wall member 132 remains in the first retracted state. As a result, the movement of the support device 14 (i.e., the movement of the housing device 13) is not hindered by contact between the end 134 of the partition wall member 132 and the paint film SF. Furthermore, the paint film SF is not damaged by contact between the end 134 and the paint film SF during the movement of the support device 14. However, if the movement of the support device 14 is not hindered by contact between the end 134 and the paint film SF, then at least a portion of the end 134 may be in contact with the paint film SF for at least a portion of the period during which the support device 14 is moving. If the paint film SF is not damaged by contact between the end portion 134 and the paint film SF during the movement of the support device 14, then at least a portion of the end portion 134 may be in contact with the paint film SF for at least a portion of the time while the support device 14 is moving.

[0115] Furthermore, while the support device 14 is moving, the control device 2 controls the drive system 15 so that the front leg member 142 remains in the second retracted state. As a result, the movement of the support device 14 (i.e., the movement of the housing device 13) is not hindered by contact between the end 144 of the front leg member 142 and the paint film SF. Furthermore, the paint film SF is not damaged by contact between the end 144 and the paint film SF while the support device 14 is moving. However, if the movement of the support device 14 is not hindered by contact between the end 144 and the paint film SF, then at least a portion of the end 144 may be in contact with the paint film SF for at least a portion of the period while the support device 14 is moving. If the paint film SF is not damaged by contact between the end 144 and the paint film SF while the support device 14 is moving, then at least a portion of the end 144 may be in contact with the paint film SF for at least a portion of the period while the support device 14 is moving.

[0116] Furthermore, while the support device 14 is moving, the control device 2 controls the drive system 15 so that the leg members 142 other than the front leg member 142 among the multiple leg members 142 remain in the first extended state. As a result, even if the end 144 of the front leg member 142 separates from the paint film SF, the ends 144 of the other leg members 142 remain in contact with the paint film SF. Therefore, the support device 14 remains capable of standing on the paint film SF (or being able to attach to the paint film SF so as to be suspended from it), just as if all the ends 144 of the multiple leg members 142 were in contact with the paint film SF.

[0117] Furthermore, while the support device 14 is moving, the control device 2 controls the light irradiation device 11 so that it does not irradiate the processing light EL.

[0118] After the housing device 13 is positioned in the second housing position, as shown in Figure 16, the control device 2 controls a drive system (not shown) that extends and retracts the bulkhead member 132 so that the bulkhead member 132 switches from a first retracted state to a first extended state. As a result, the end portion 134 of the bulkhead member 132 comes into contact with and adheres to the paint film SF. Furthermore, the control device 2 controls the drive system 15 so that the front leg member 142 switches from a second retracted state to a second extended state. As a result, the end portion 144 of the front leg member 142 comes into contact with and adheres to the paint film SF. Here, the extension operation of the bulkhead member 132 and the extension operation of the front leg member 142 may be performed simultaneously or with a time difference.

[0119] Subsequently, as shown in Figure 17, the control device 2 controls the drive system 15 so that the state of at least some of the leg members 142 that move relative to the paint film SF in conjunction with the movement of the support device 14 (in particular, the contraction of the extended beam member 141, as will be described later) switches from the second extended state to the second contracted state. The leg member 142 that moves relative to the paint film SF in conjunction with the contraction of the extended beam member 141 is typically the leg member 142 located on the rear side in the direction of movement of the support device 14. In the example shown in Figure 17, the leg member 142 located on the rear side in the direction of movement of the support device 14 is the leg member 142 located on the -X side. Hereinafter, the leg member 142 located on the rear side in the direction of movement of the support device 14 will be referred to as the "rear leg member 142". As a result, the end 144 of the rear leg member 142 moves away from the paint film SF.

[0120] Subsequently, as shown in Figure 18, the control device 2 controls the drive system 15 so that the beam member 141, which was extending along the direction of movement of the support device 14, is retracted.

[0121] After the reduction of the beam member 141 is complete, as shown in Figure 19, the control device 2 controls the drive system 15 so that the rear leg member 142 switches from the second reduced state to the second extended state. As a result, the end portion 144 of the rear leg member 142 comes into contact with and adheres to the paint film SF.

[0122] Subsequently, the control device 2 controls the light irradiation device 11 so that multiple processing light ELs scan processing shot areas SA3 and SA4, similar to how multiple processing light ELs scan processing shot areas SA1 and SA2. This operation is repeated, and multiple processing light ELs are irradiated onto the surface of the coating film SF (particularly the area of ​​the coating film SF where the riblet structure should be formed). As a result, a riblet structure is formed on the workpiece S by the coating film SF.

[0123] (1-2-3) Foreign object inspection operation and foreign object removal operation As described above, the foreign matter measuring device 31 and the control device 2 perform a foreign matter inspection operation. In the first embodiment, the foreign matter measuring device 31 and the control device 2 perform a foreign matter inspection operation on one target area of ​​the surface of the painted film SF before a processing operation is performed on that target area. In other words, the processing device 1 performs a processing operation on one target area of ​​the surface of the painted film SF after a foreign matter inspection operation has been performed on that target area. The processing device 1 performs a processing operation on the inspected area of ​​the surface of the painted film SF on which the foreign matter inspection operation has been performed. The processing device 1 does not have to perform a processing operation on an uninspected area of ​​the surface of the painted film SF on which the foreign matter inspection operation has not been performed. However, the processing device 1 may perform a processing operation on at least a portion of the uninspected area of ​​the surface of the painted film SF on which the foreign matter inspection operation has not been performed.

[0124] For example, the foreign matter measuring device 31 and the control device 2 may perform a foreign matter inspection operation on one of the multiple processing shot areas SA before performing a processing operation on that processing shot area SA. In other words, the processing device 1 may perform a processing operation on a processing shot area SA after a foreign matter inspection operation has been performed on that processing shot area SA. The processing device 1 may perform a processing operation on the processing shot area SA on the surface of the coating film SF where a foreign matter inspection operation has been performed. The processing device 1 does not have to perform a processing operation on processing shot areas SA where a foreign matter inspection operation has not been performed.

[0125] For example, the foreign matter measuring device 31 and the control device 2 may perform a foreign matter inspection operation on a particular area within a processing shot area SA before performing a processing operation on that area. In other words, the processing device 1 may perform a processing operation on a particular area within a processing shot area SA after a foreign matter inspection operation has been performed on that area. The processing device 1 may perform a processing operation on the inspected area within a processing shot area SA where a foreign matter inspection operation has been performed. The processing device 1 does not have to perform a processing operation on the uninspected area within a processing shot area SA where a foreign matter inspection operation has not been performed.

[0126] The foreign object measuring device 31 and the light irradiation device 11 may be aligned so that a foreign object inspection operation is performed before the processing operation is performed. Specifically, the foreign object measuring device 31 and the light irradiation device 11 may be aligned based on the direction of movement of the light irradiation device 11. Since the target irradiation area EA moves when the light irradiation device 11 moves, the foreign object measuring device 31 and the light irradiation device 11 may be aligned based on the direction of movement of the target irradiation area EA.

[0127] For example, Figure 20 is a plan view showing two processing shot areas SA#1 and SA#2 set on a coating film SF. In particular, Figure 20 shows an example where the two processing shot areas SA#1 and SA#2 are aligned along the X-axis direction, and processing shot area SA#2 is set on the +X side of processing shot area SA#1. Here, when the light irradiation device 11 performs processing operations on processing shot areas SA#1 and SA#2 in this order, the light irradiation device 11 moves from above processing shot area SA#1 to above processing shot area SA#2. In other words, the light irradiation device 11 moves along the X-axis direction and toward the +X side relative to the coating film SF. Furthermore, in accordance with the movement of the light irradiation device 11, the target irradiation area EA also moves along the X-axis direction and toward the +X side. In this case, as shown in Figure 20, the foreign object measuring device 31 and the light irradiation device 11 may be aligned so that they are aligned along the X-axis direction (i.e., the direction of movement of the light irradiation device 11 and the direction of movement of the target irradiation area EA). Furthermore, as shown in Figure 20, the foreign object measuring device 31 and the light irradiation device 11 may be aligned so that the foreign object measuring device 31 is positioned on the +X side of the light irradiation device 11 (i.e., the front side in the direction of movement of the light irradiation device 11 and the front side in the direction of movement of the target irradiation area EA). As a result, as shown in Figure 20, the area on the coating film SF where the processing operation is performed and the area on the coating film SF where the foreign object inspection operation is performed are aligned along the X-axis direction (i.e., the direction of movement of the light irradiation device 11 and the direction of movement of the target irradiation area EA). Furthermore, as shown in Figure 20, the area where the foreign object inspection operation is performed is located on the +X side of the area where the processing operation is performed (i.e., the forward side in the direction of movement of the light irradiation device 11, and the forward side in the direction of movement of the target irradiation area EA). In Figure 20, the area where the processing operation is performed is typically the area where the light irradiation device 11 irradiates with processing light EL (in the example shown in Figure 20, the area that includes at least a portion of the processing shot area SA#1). In Figure 20, the area where the foreign object inspection operation is performed is typically the area where at least a portion of the area to be measured AMA is set (in the example shown in Figure 20, the area that includes at least a portion of the processing shot area SA#2).As a result, the foreign matter measuring device 31 can perform a foreign matter inspection operation on the processing shot area SA#2 before the processing device 1 performs a processing operation on the processing shot area SA#2. The processing device 1 can perform a processing operation on the processing shot area SA#1 after the foreign matter measuring device 31 has performed a foreign matter inspection operation on the processing shot area SA#1. Therefore, it is possible to achieve a state in which a foreign matter inspection operation is performed before the processing operation is performed.

[0128] In the example shown in Figure 20, the foreign matter measuring device 31 may perform a foreign matter inspection operation on the processing shot area SA#2 for at least a portion of the time while the processing device 1 is performing a processing operation on the processing shot area SA#1. In other words, the processing operation on one area of ​​the coating film SF by the processing device 1 and the foreign matter inspection operation on the other area of ​​the coating film SF by the foreign matter measuring device 31 may be performed in parallel. However, the processing operation on one area of ​​the coating film SF by the processing device 1 and the foreign matter inspection operation on the other area of ​​the coating film SF by the foreign matter measuring device 31 do not have to be performed in parallel. For example, the foreign matter measuring device 31 may perform a foreign matter inspection operation for at least a portion of the time when the processing device 1 is not performing a processing operation (i.e., when the processing light EL is not irradiating the coating film SF).

[0129] In the example shown in Figure 20, as long as the area where the machining operation is performed and the area where the foreign object inspection operation is performed are aligned along the X-axis and the area where the foreign object inspection operation is performed is located on the +X side of the area where the machining operation is performed, the light irradiation device 11 and the foreign object measuring device 31 do not need to be aligned along the X-axis, nor do the foreign object measuring device 31 need to be located on the +X side of the light irradiation device 11. In other words, the foreign object measuring device 31 and the light irradiation device 11 may be aligned such that the area where the machining operation is performed and the area where the foreign object inspection operation is performed are aligned along the X-axis and the area where the foreign object inspection operation is performed is located on the +X side of the area where the machining operation is performed. Even in this case, it is possible to achieve a state in which the foreign object inspection operation is performed before the machining operation is performed.

[0130] Alternatively, for example, Figure 21 is a plan view showing the movement trajectory of the target irradiation area EA due to a machining operation performed on a certain machining shot area SA. As shown in Figure 21 (and as already explained with reference to Figure 11), within the machining shot area SA, the target irradiation area EA moves along the Y-axis direction and from the -Y side to the +Y side by the scanning operation. In this case, as shown in Figure 21, the foreign matter measuring device 31 and the light irradiation device 11 may be aligned so that the foreign matter measuring device 31 and the light irradiation device 11 are aligned along the Y-axis direction (i.e., the direction of movement of the target irradiation area EA). Furthermore, as shown in Figure 21, the foreign matter measuring device 31 and the light irradiation device 11 may be aligned so that the foreign matter measuring device 31 is positioned on the +Y side of the light irradiation device 11 (i.e., the front side in the direction of movement of the target irradiation area EA). As a result, as shown in Figure 21, the area on the coating film SF where the machining operation is performed and the area on the coating film SF where the foreign matter inspection operation is performed are aligned along the Y-axis direction (i.e., the direction of movement of the target irradiation area EA). Furthermore, as shown in Figure 21, the area where the foreign object inspection operation is performed is located on the +Y side of the area where the processing operation is performed (i.e., the forward side in the direction of movement of the target irradiation area EA). In Figure 21, the area where the processing operation is performed is typically the area where the target irradiation area EA is set. In Figure 21, the area where the foreign object inspection operation is performed is typically the area where at least a part of the area to be measured AMA is set. As a result, the foreign object measuring device 31 can perform a foreign object inspection operation on one area within the processing shot area SA before the processing device 1 performs a processing operation on that area (specifically, before irradiating with processing light EL). Therefore, it is possible to achieve a state in which the foreign object inspection operation is performed before the processing operation is performed.

[0131] In the example shown in Figure 21, the foreign matter measuring device 31 may perform a foreign matter inspection operation on other areas within the same processing shot area SA for at least a portion of the time during which the processing device 1 is performing a processing operation on one area within the same processing shot area SA.

[0132] In the example shown in Figure 21, as long as the area where the machining operation is performed and the area where the foreign object inspection operation is performed are aligned along the Y-axis and the area where the foreign object inspection operation is performed is located on the +Y side of the area where the machining operation is performed, the light irradiation device 11 and the foreign object measuring device 31 do not need to be aligned along the Y-axis, nor do the foreign object measuring device 31 need to be located on the +Y side of the light irradiation device 11. In other words, the foreign object measuring device 31 and the light irradiation device 11 may be aligned such that the area where the machining operation is performed and the area where the foreign object inspection operation is performed are aligned along the Y-axis and the area where the foreign object inspection operation is performed is located on the +Y side of the area where the machining operation is performed. Even in this case, it is possible to achieve a state in which the foreign object inspection operation is performed before the machining operation is performed.

[0133] Figures 20 and 21 show examples where the direction in which the light irradiation device 11 moves to start a machining operation on another machining shot area SA after the machining operation on one area SA is completed (the X-axis direction in Figure 20) is different from the direction in which the target irradiation area EA moves during the scanning operation within the machining shot area SA (the Y-axis direction in Figure 21). However, the direction in which the light irradiation device 11 moves to start a machining operation on another machining shot area SA after the machining operation on one area SA is completed and the direction in which the target irradiation area EA moves during the scanning operation within the machining shot area SA may be the same. In this case, in both the situation shown in Figure 20 and the situation shown in Figure 21, it is possible to realize a state in which a foreign object inspection operation is performed before the machining operation is performed.

[0134] Alternatively, the processing system SYSa may include a plurality of foreign matter measuring devices 31 with different relative positions to the light irradiation device 11. In this case, the first foreign matter measuring device 31 among the plurality of foreign matter measuring devices 31 may be aligned with the light irradiation device 11 along the direction of movement of the light irradiation device 11 and positioned in front of the light irradiation device 11 in the direction of movement of the light irradiation device 11. For example, the first foreign matter measuring device 31 may be aligned with the light irradiation device 11 along the X-axis direction and positioned on the +X side of the light irradiation device 11. On the other hand, the second foreign matter measuring device 31 among the plurality of foreign matter measuring devices 31 may be aligned with the light irradiation device 11 along the direction of movement of the target irradiation area EA and positioned in front of the light irradiation device 11 in the direction of movement of the target irradiation area EA. For example, the second foreign matter measuring device 31 may be aligned with the light irradiation device 11 along the Y-axis direction and positioned on the +Y side of the light irradiation device 11. Even in this case, in both the situation shown in Figure 20 and the situation shown in Figure 21 (that is, when the direction of movement of the light irradiation device 11 and the direction of movement of the target irradiation area EA are different), it is possible to achieve a state in which the foreign object inspection operation is performed before the processing operation is performed.

[0135] The control device 2 may control the processing device 1 based on the results of the foreign matter inspection operation. For example, if the foreign matter inspection operation determines that no foreign matter is present in one area of ​​the surface of the coating film SF, the control device 2 may control the processing device 1 to start processing on that area. On the other hand, if the foreign matter inspection operation determines that foreign matter is present in one area of ​​the surface of the coating film SF, the control device 2 may control the processing device 1 not to start processing on that area. In other words, if the foreign matter inspection operation determines that foreign matter is present in one area of ​​the surface of the coating film SF, the control device 2 may temporarily stop the processing device 1.

[0136] If the foreign matter inspection operation determines that a foreign matter exists in one area of ​​the surface of the coating film SF, the control device 2 may control the foreign matter removal device 32 to remove the foreign matter from the area (i.e., perform a foreign matter removal operation on the area) based on the result of the foreign matter inspection operation. In other words, the foreign matter removal device 32 may remove the foreign matter from the area in which the foreign matter inspection operation determined that a foreign matter exists, based on the result of the foreign matter inspection operation. Once the foreign matter is removed by the foreign matter removal device 32, as described above, an abnormal event that could hinder proper processing of the area by irradiation with processing light EL is resolved. For this reason, the control device 2 may control the processing device 1 to start processing the area after the foreign matter has been removed from the area by the foreign matter removal device 32. The foreign matter removal device 32 may also be called an abnormal event resolution device because it resolves the abnormal event by removing the foreign matter.

[0137] Thus, if the foreign matter inspection operation determines that a foreign matter is present in one area of ​​the surface of the coating film SF, the foreign matter removal device 32 performs the foreign matter removal operation before the processing operation is performed. In other words, the processing device 1 performs the processing operation after the foreign matter removal operation has been performed. Specifically, the foreign matter removal device 32 performs the foreign matter removal operation on one target area of ​​the surface of the coating film SF before the processing operation is performed on that target area. In other words, the processing device 1 performs the processing operation on one target area of ​​the surface of the coating film SF after the foreign matter removal operation has been performed on that target area. The processing device 1 performs the processing operation on the removed area of ​​the surface of the coating film SF where the foreign matter removal operation has been performed. The processing device 1 does not need to perform the processing operation on the unremoved area of ​​the surface of the coating film SF where the foreign matter removal operation has not been performed.

[0138] The foreign matter removal device 32 and the light irradiation device 11 may be aligned so that a foreign matter removal operation is performed before the processing operation is performed. Specifically, the foreign matter removal device 32 and the light irradiation device 11 may be aligned according to the same criteria as the alignment criteria for the foreign matter measuring device 31 and the light irradiation device 11. Specifically, the foreign matter removal device 32 and the light irradiation device 11 may be aligned so that they are aligned along the direction of movement of the light irradiation device 11 and / or the target irradiation area EA. The foreign matter removal device 32 and the light irradiation device 11 may be aligned so that the foreign matter removal device 32 is positioned in front of the light irradiation device 11 in the direction of movement of the light irradiation device 11 and / or the target irradiation area EA. The area on the coating film SF where the processing operation is performed and the area on the coating film SF where the foreign matter removal operation is performed may be aligned along the direction of movement of the light irradiation device 11 and / or the target irradiation area EA. The area where the foreign matter removal operation is performed may be located further forward in the direction of movement of the light irradiation device 11 and / or the target irradiation area EA than the area where the processing operation is performed.

[0139] Alternatively, the processing system SYSa may include a plurality of foreign matter removal devices 32 at different relative positions to the light irradiation device 11. In this case, the first foreign matter removal device 32 among the plurality of foreign matter removal devices 32 may be aligned with the light irradiation device 11 along the direction of movement of the light irradiation device 11, and may be positioned in front of the light irradiation device 11 in the direction of movement of the light irradiation device 11. On the other hand, the second foreign matter removal device 32 among the plurality of foreign matter removal devices 32 may be aligned with the light irradiation device 11 along the direction of movement of the target irradiation area EA, and may be positioned in front of the light irradiation device 11 in the direction of movement of the target irradiation area EA. Even in this case, in both the situation shown in Figure 20 and the situation shown in Figure 21 (i.e., when the direction of movement of the light irradiation device 11 and the direction of movement of the target irradiation area EA are different), it is possible to achieve a state in which the foreign matter removal operation is performed before the processing operation is performed.

[0140] To determine whether foreign matter has been removed by the foreign matter removal device 32, the control device 2 may control the foreign matter measuring device 31 so that after the foreign matter removal device 32 has performed a foreign matter removal operation on one area, and before the processing operation on one area is started, the control device 2 may control the processing device 1 to start the processing operation on one area. On the other hand, if the foreign matter inspection operation performed on one area again determines that foreign matter has not yet been removed from one area, the control device 2 may control the foreign matter removal device 32 to remove the foreign matter from one area.

[0141] Even if the control device 2 determines through a foreign matter inspection operation that a foreign matter exists in one area of ​​the surface of the coating film SF, it may control the processing device 1 to start the processing operation without removing the foreign matter from that area, depending on the characteristics of the foreign matter. For example, if the size of the foreign matter in one area is less than a predetermined size, the control device 2 may control the processing device 1 to start the processing operation without removing the foreign matter from that area. This is because the smaller the size of the foreign matter, the less likely it is that the proper processing of one area by irradiation with processing light EL will be hindered by the foreign matter. Therefore, if the size of the foreign matter is small enough that it does not hinder the proper processing of one area by irradiation with processing light EL, the processing device 1 should be able to process one area without being affected by the foreign matter. For this reason, the predetermined size, which is a threshold size compared with the size of the foreign matter, may be set to an appropriate value that can distinguish between foreign matter that hinders the proper processing of one area by irradiation with processing light EL and foreign matter that does not hinder the proper processing of one area by irradiation with processing light EL, based on their size. If the processing operation is to be started without removing foreign matter from a given area, the processing device 1 may process the coating film SF together with the foreign matter. In other words, the processing device 1 may process the coating film SF by irradiating the foreign matter with processing light EL together with the coating film SF. In this case, the foreign matter may be evaporated by irradiation with processing light EL or burned by irradiation with processing light EL.

[0142] The control device 2 may control the display 4 to display information related to the foreign object inspection operation. For example, the control device 2 may control the display 4 to display information related to the result of the foreign object inspection operation. For example, the control device 2 may control the display 4 to display information indicating whether or not a foreign object was detected by the foreign object inspection operation. If a foreign object is detected by the foreign object inspection operation, for example, the control device 2 may control the display 4 to display a warning that the processing operation cannot be started due to the foreign object. For example, the control device 2 may control the display 4 to display information related to the location (i.e., the position on the coating film SF) where the foreign object was detected by the foreign object inspection operation. For example, the control device 2 may control the display 4 to display information related to the characteristics of the foreign object detected by the foreign object inspection operation. When information related to the foreign object inspection operation is displayed on the display 4, the operator of the processing system SYSa can understand from the display results of the display 4 where and what kind of foreign object is present on the surface of the coating film SF. In this case, the operator may remove the foreign object themselves. In other words, the foreign object removal device 32 does not necessarily have to remove the foreign object.

[0143] The control device 2 may control the display 4 to display information related to the foreign object removal operation. For example, the control device 2 may control the display 4 to display information related to the result of the foreign object removal operation. For example, the control device 2 may control the display 4 to display information indicating whether or not the foreign object was removed by the foreign object removal operation. If the foreign object was removed by the foreign object removal operation, for example, the control device 2 may control the display 4 to display information to notify the operator that the machining operation can be started because the foreign object has been removed. If the foreign object was not removed by the foreign object removal operation, for example, the control device 2 may control the display 4 to display a warning that the machining operation cannot be started because the foreign object could not be removed.

[0144] (1-4) Technical effects of the SYSa processing system As described above, the processing system SYSa of the first embodiment can form a riblet structure on the surface of a workpiece S (particularly the coating film SF formed on its surface) by irradiating the workpiece S with processing light EL. For this reason, the processing system SYSa can form a riblet structure relatively easily and in a relatively short time compared to a processing device that forms a riblet structure by removing material from the surface of the workpiece S with a cutting tool such as an end mill.

[0145] Furthermore, the SYSa processing system can simultaneously irradiate multiple processing light ELs to form multiple concave structures CP1 at the same time. Therefore, compared to processing equipment that can only form one concave structure CP1 at a time by irradiating with a single processing light EL, the throughput for forming riblet structures is improved.

[0146] Furthermore, the SYSa processing system can deflect multiple processing light ELs with the galvanometer mirror 1122, enabling relatively high-speed scanning of the coating film SF. This improves the throughput for forming the riblet structure.

[0147] Furthermore, the SYSa processing system can form a riblet structure on the surface of the workpiece S by processing the coating film SF formed on the surface of the workpiece S, instead of directly processing the workpiece S. Therefore, compared to processing systems that form a riblet structure by adding (e.g., attaching) a special material to the surface of the workpiece S (i.e., the surface of the coating film SF), the increase in weight of the workpiece S due to the formation of the riblet structure can be avoided.

[0148] Furthermore, because the SYSa processing system does not directly process the workpiece S, it can relatively easily reshape the riblet structure. Specifically, when reshaping the riblet structure, the riblet structure made of the coating film SF is first peeled off, and then a new coating film SF is applied. Subsequently, the SYSa processing system can form a new riblet structure by processing the newly applied coating film SF. Therefore, deterioration of the riblet structure (e.g., damage) can be dealt with relatively easily by reshaping the riblet structure.

[0149] Furthermore, because the SYSa processing system does not directly process the workpiece S, it can form a riblet structure on the surface of the workpiece S that is difficult to process directly or that does not originally have a riblet structure. In other words, if the SYSa processing system processes the coating film SF after it has been applied to the surface of the workpiece S, a riblet structure can be formed relatively easily.

[0150] Furthermore, when the coating film SF is applied to the workpiece S and then processed, the processing operation of the workpiece S may include the operation of applying (i.e., forming) the coating film SF to the workpiece S and the operation of processing the coating film SF (for example, partially removing the coating film SF). The operation of applying the coating film SF to the workpiece S may be performed by the processing system SYSa. In this case, the processing system SYSa may be equipped with a coating device for applying the coating film SF to the workpiece S. Alternatively, the operation of applying the coating film SF to the workpiece S may be performed outside the processing system SYSa. For example, the operation of applying the coating film SF to the workpiece S may be performed by a coating device outside the processing system SYSa.

[0151] Furthermore, the SYSa processing system can form riblet structures using a coating film SF. The coating film SF typically has relatively high durability against external environmental factors (e.g., heat, light, and at least one of these). Therefore, the SYSa processing system can relatively easily form riblet structures with high durability.

[0152] Furthermore, in the first embodiment, the optical path of the processing light EL between the terminal optical element of the optical system 112 and the coating film SF is contained within the containment space SP. Therefore, compared to a processing system in which the optical path of the processing light EL is not contained within the containment space SP (i.e., is open to an open space), it is possible to appropriately prevent the processing light EL irradiated onto the coating film SF (or the scattered or reflected light of the processing light EL from the coating film SF) from propagating (in other words, scattering) around the processing system SYSa. Furthermore, it is possible to appropriately prevent unwanted substances generated by the irradiation of the processing light EL from propagating (in other words, scattering) around the processing system SYSa.

[0153] Furthermore, in the first embodiment, the light irradiation device 11 is supported by a support device 14 that can move on the coating film SF. Therefore, the processing system SYSa can process the coating film SF, which is spread over a relatively wide area, with relative ease. In other words, the processing system SYSa can form a riblet structure with the coating film SF over a relatively wide area of ​​the surface of the workpiece S. Moreover, since the processing system SYSa does not require the workpiece S to be moved, it can form a riblet structure relatively easily even on the surface of a relatively large or heavy workpiece S.

[0154] Furthermore, the SYSa processing system can use an exhaust device 16 to draw out unwanted substances generated by the irradiation of the processing light EL to the outside of the containment space SP. Therefore, the irradiation of the processing light EL onto the coating film SF is hardly hindered by unwanted substances. As a result, the irradiation accuracy of the processing light EL is improved compared to processing systems that do not have an exhaust device 16 (i.e., where the irradiation of the processing light EL onto the coating film SF may be hindered by unwanted substances). Consequently, the accuracy of riblet structure formation is improved.

[0155] Furthermore, the processing apparatus 1 can prevent dirt from adhering to the optical surface 1124 (i.e., the optical surface on the SP side of the accommodating space for the terminal optical elements of the optical system 112) by using the gas supply device 17. Therefore, compared to a processing apparatus without the gas supply device 17, the possibility of the irradiation of the processing light EL onto the coating film SF being hindered by dirt adhering to the optical surface 1124 is reduced. As a result, the irradiation accuracy of the processing light EL is improved. Consequently, the formation accuracy of the riblet structure is improved.

[0156] Furthermore, in the first embodiment, the processing system SYSa can perform a foreign matter inspection operation on the surface of the coating film SF using the foreign matter measuring device 31. Therefore, compared to the case where no foreign matter inspection operation is performed, the possibility that the proper processing of the coating film SF by irradiation with processing light EL will be hindered by foreign matter is reduced. Specifically, if the foreign matter inspection operation determines that foreign matter is present, the processing operation will not be started. Therefore, compared to the case where the processing operation is started even if foreign matter is determined to be present, the possibility that the proper processing of the coating film SF by irradiation with processing light EL will be hindered by foreign matter is reduced.

[0157] Furthermore, the SYSa processing system can remove foreign matter from the surface of the coating film SF using the foreign matter removal device 32. Therefore, even if the presence of foreign matter is detected, the SYSa processing system can properly process the coating film SF without being affected by the foreign matter.

[0158] Furthermore, even if the SYSa machining system detects the presence of foreign matter, it can start the machining operation without removing the foreign matter, depending on its characteristics. Therefore, the execution of the machining operation is not excessively restricted due to the presence of foreign matter. Consequently, the throughput of the SYSa machining system is improved compared to a system where the machining operation cannot be started unless the foreign matter is removed, regardless of its characteristics.

[0159] (1-5) Modified examples of the SYSa processing system The processing system SYSa does not need to be equipped with a foreign matter measuring device 31. In other words, the processing system SYSa does not need to perform a foreign matter inspection operation. In this case, the control device 2 may control the foreign matter removal device 32 to perform a foreign matter removal operation without using the results of the foreign matter inspection operation. For example, the control device 2 may control the foreign matter removal device 32 to perform a foreign matter removal operation on the entire surface of the coating film SF. The control device 2 may control the foreign matter removal device 32 to perform a foreign matter removal operation on the surface of the coating film SF in the area where the processing operation is performed (in particular, the processing light EL is irradiated). The control device 2 may control the foreign matter removal device 32 to perform a foreign matter removal operation on the surface of the coating film SF in the area where foreign matter actually exists (however, since no foreign matter inspection operation is performed, it is not possible to determine whether foreign matter exists in that area). The control device 2 may control the foreign matter removal device 32 to perform a foreign matter removal operation on areas of the surface of the painted film SF where foreign matter does not actually exist (however, since no foreign matter inspection operation is performed, it is not possible to determine whether foreign matter is present in those areas). In this case, the control device 2 may consider that no foreign matter exists in the areas of the surface of the painted film SF where the foreign matter removal operation has been performed, and control the processing device 1 to perform a processing operation on those areas.

[0160] The processing system SYSa does not necessarily have to be equipped with a foreign matter removal device 32. In this case, if the foreign matter inspection operation determines that a foreign matter is present in one area of ​​the surface of the coating film SF, the operator of the processing system SYSa may remove the foreign matter.

[0161] The foreign matter measuring device 31 may measure defects occurring on the surface of the coating film SF in addition to, or instead of, foreign matter. Specifically, the foreign matter measuring device 31 may measure defects occurring in the area AMA to be measured. In particular, in the first embodiment, the foreign matter measuring device 31 may measure defects occurring on the surface of the coating film SF before the riblet structure is formed (i.e., defects in the coating film SF itself). Examples of such defects in the coating film SF itself include at least partial peeling of the coating film SF, at least partial thickness unevenness of the coating film SF, unintentionally occurring depressions (e.g., depressions) on at least a part of the surface of the coating film SF, and at least one unintentionally occurring protrusions on at least a part of the surface of the coating film SF. However, as will be described in detail later in the second embodiment, the foreign matter measuring device 31 may measure defects occurring on the surface of the coating film SF after the riblet structure has been formed (i.e., at least one of defects in the coating film SF itself and defects in the riblet structure formed on the surface of the coating film SF). Furthermore, if the foreign matter measuring device 31 measures defects, the foreign matter measuring device 31 may be referred to as a defect measuring device. Alternatively, the processing system SYSa may be equipped with a defect measuring device for measuring defects occurring on the surface of the coating film SF, in addition to or instead of the foreign matter measuring device 31.

[0162] If defects occur on the surface of the coating film SF, at least a portion of the processing light EL may not be properly irradiated onto the coating film SF. As a result, proper processing of the coating film SF by irradiation with processing light EL may be hindered. In other words, proper processing of the coating film SF by irradiation with processing light EL may be obstructed by defects. Therefore, the occurrence of defects on the surface of the coating film SF is a specific example of an abnormal event that can hinder proper processing of the coating film SF by irradiation with processing light EL.

[0163] The foreign matter measuring device 31 may measure defects by performing the same operation as when measuring foreign matter. This is because, just as the surface state of the coating film SF differs depending on whether foreign matter is present or absent, the surface state of the coating film SF differs depending on whether a defect is present or absent. Therefore, a detailed explanation of the operation of the foreign matter measuring device 31 to measure defects will be omitted.

[0164] When the foreign matter measuring device 31 measures a defect, the control device 2 may perform a defect inspection operation on the measured area AMA based on the measurement results of the foreign matter measuring device 31 (referred to as "foreign matter measurement information" in the above explanation, but here referred to as "defect measurement information"). Note that the defect inspection operation differs from the foreign matter inspection operation, which targets foreign matter, in that it targets defects. The content of the defect inspection operation may be the same as the content of the foreign matter inspection operation, which targets foreign matter, except that the target of the operation is a defect. For example, the control device 2 may perform a defect detection operation to determine whether or not a defect has occurred in the measured area AMA. For example, the control device 2 may calculate the characteristics of the defect (i.e., the state of the defect, for example, at least one of the shape and size of the defect). For example, the control device 2 may calculate the number of defects. The control device 2 may perform a defect inspection operation based on the defect measurement information and characteristic information regarding the surface characteristics of the coating film SF. For this reason, a detailed explanation of the defect inspection operation is omitted.

[0165] When the foreign matter measuring device 31 measures a defect, the foreign matter removal device 32 may perform a defect repair operation to repair the defect. Specifically, the foreign matter removal device 32 may repair defects occurring in the removal area RA (however, in this case, the removal area may also be called the repair area). When the foreign matter removal device 32 repairs a defect, the foreign matter removal device 32 may be called a defect repair device. Alternatively, the processing system SYSa may be equipped with a defect repair device for repairing defects occurring on the surface of the coating film SF, in addition to or instead of the foreign matter removal device 32.

[0166] The defect repair operation may include any operation as long as it can repair the defect. In other words, the foreign matter removal device 32 may be any device as long as it can repair the defect. For example, the foreign matter removal device 32 may repair the defect by adding material to at least a portion of the surface of the paint film SF (for example, by filling it with a repair filler (e.g., putty)) so that the surface condition of the paint film SF becomes ideal. For example, the foreign matter removal device 32 may repair the defect by removing at least a portion of the surface of the paint film SF (for example, by scraping it off) so that the surface condition of the paint film SF becomes ideal.

[0167] (2) Processing system SYSb of the second embodiment Next, we will describe the machining system SYS of the second embodiment (hereinafter, the machining system SYS of the second embodiment will be referred to as "machining system SYSb").

[0168] (2-1) Structure of the SYSb processing system First, the structure of the SYSb machining system of the second embodiment will be described with reference to Figure 22. Figure 22 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the overall structure of the SYSb machining system of the second embodiment.

[0169] As shown in Figure 22, the processing system SYSb of the second embodiment differs from the processing system SYSa of the first embodiment in that it includes a defect measuring device 33b and a defect repair device 34b. Other features of the processing system SYSb may be the same as other features of the processing system SYSa. However, the processing system SYSb does not necessarily have to include a foreign matter measuring device 31 and a foreign matter removal device 32.

[0170] The defect measurement device 33b measures defects occurring on the surface of the coating film SF under the control of the control device 2. Specifically, the defect measurement device 33b measures defects occurring on the surface of the coating film SF in a region included in the measurement range of the defect measurement device 33b (hereinafter referred to as the "measured region DMA") under the control of the control device 2. The defect inspection device 33b may also measure defects occurring on the surface of the coating film SF independently of the control of the control device 2.

[0171] The defect measuring device 33b may measure defects occurring on the surface of the coating film SF before the riblet structure is formed by the processing operation (i.e., defects in the coating film SF itself). An example of a defect in the coating film SF itself has already been explained in the modified example of the first embodiment described above.

[0172] The defect measuring device 33b may measure defects occurring on the surface of the paint film SF after the riblet structure has been formed by the processing operation. Defects occurring on the surface of the paint film SF after the riblet structure has been formed include at least one of defects in the paint film SF itself and defects in the riblet structure formed on the surface of the paint film SF. Defects in the riblet structure include defects in the characteristics (i.e., features) of the riblet structure. The characteristics of the riblet structure may include at least one of the formation location of the riblet structure, the cross-sectional shape of the riblet structure, the height of the riblet structure (specifically, at least one of the height H of the convex structure CP2 and the depth D of the concave structure CP1 described above), and the arrangement pitch of the riblet structure (specifically, at least one of the arrangement pitch P2H of the convex structure CP2 and the arrangement pitch P1 of the concave structure CP1 described above). A defect in the characteristics of the riblet structure may mean a state in which the difference (i.e., error) between the actual characteristics of the riblet structure and the design characteristics (i.e., ideal characteristics) exceeds an acceptable value. For example, a defect in the formation location of a riblet structure may mean that the difference between the actual formation location and the designed formation location of the riblet structure exceeds a first tolerance value. For example, a defect in the cross-sectional shape of a riblet structure may mean that the difference between the actual cross-sectional shape and the designed cross-sectional shape of the riblet structure exceeds a second tolerance value. For example, a defect in the formation location of a riblet structure may mean that the difference between the actual height and the designed height of the riblet structure exceeds a third tolerance value. For example, a defect in the arrangement pitch of a riblet structure may mean that the difference between the actual arrangement pitch and the designed arrangement pitch of the riblet structure exceeds a fourth tolerance value.

[0173] A riblet structure exhibiting such defects can be considered to be of lower quality compared to a riblet structure without defects. Therefore, the operation of measuring defects in a riblet structure can be considered substantially equivalent to the operation of measuring the quality of the riblet structure. In this case, the defect measuring device 33b may be called a quality measuring device.

[0174] The defect measurement device 33b may be a measuring device capable of measuring the surface condition of the coating film SF. In other words, the defect measurement device 33b may be a measuring device capable of measuring defects occurring on the surface of the coating film SF by measuring the surface condition of the coating film SF. This is because the surface condition of a coating film SF with defects is different from the surface condition of a coating film SF without defects.

[0175] The defect measurement device 33b is attached to the mounting member 19 to which the light irradiation device 11 is attached. Therefore, the defect measurement device 33b moves in accordance with the movement of the light irradiation device 11 by the drive system 12. In other words, the defect measurement device 33b moves together with the light irradiation device 11 relative to the paint film SF. As a result, the area DMA to be measured by the defect measurement device 33b also moves on the paint film SF. Therefore, the defect measurement device 33b can measure defects occurring in the area DMA to be measured, which can be set to a desired area on the paint film SF. However, the defect measurement device 33b does not have to be attached to the mounting member 19. The defect measurement device 33b may be attached to a member other than the mounting member 19. The defect measurement device 33b may be attached to the light irradiation device 11. The defect measurement device 33b may be movable independently of the light irradiation device 11. The defect measurement device 33b does not have to be movable.

[0176] The measurement results from the defect measurement device 33b (hereinafter referred to as "defect measurement information") are output to the control device 2. Based on the defect measurement information, the control device 2 performs a defect inspection operation on the measured area DMA. In other words, the control device 2 performs a defect inspection operation on the measured area DMA together with the defect measurement device 33b. For this reason, the device (or system) including the defect measurement device 33b and the control device 2 may be referred to as an inspection device or inspection system that performs defect inspection operations. In this case, the measured area DMA may be referred to as the inspected area. As mentioned above, the operation of measuring defects occurring in the riblet structure may be considered equivalent to the operation of measuring the quality of the riblet structure. In this case, the defect inspection operation performed by the control device 2 may be considered to be substantially equivalent to a quality inspection operation that inspects the quality of the riblet structure (i.e., a quality judgment operation that determines whether the processing quality of the processing operation for forming the riblet structure is good or not). In other words, the defect inspection operation performed by the control device 2 may be considered equivalent to an evaluation operation that evaluates the characteristics (features) of the riblet structure. For this reason, the control device 2 may be referred to as an evaluation device.

[0177] The control device 2 may perform a defect detection operation as at least part of the defect inspection operation. That is, the control device 2 may determine whether or not a defect has occurred in the measured region DMA based on the defect measurement information. The control device 2 may also determine whether or not an abnormal event (in particular, an abnormal event such as a defect occurring on the surface of the coating film SF) has occurred in the measured region DMA based on the defect measurement information. In this case, the defect measurement device 33b may perform a measurement operation to measure the presence or absence of a defect in the measured region DMA. That is, the defect measurement device 33b may perform a measurement operation to acquire defect measurement information that can be used to determine the presence or absence of a defect in the measured region DMA.

[0178] If a defect exists in the measured region DMA, the control device 2 may calculate the defect characteristics (in other words, the state or features of the defect) based on the defect measurement information. That is, the control device 2 may perform a characteristic calculation operation to calculate the defect characteristics as at least part of the defect inspection operation. For example, the control device 2 may calculate the shape of the defect, which is an example of the defect characteristics, based on the defect measurement information. The shape of the defect may include the two-dimensional shape of the defect (for example, the shape in a plane along the XY plane) or the three-dimensional shape of the defect. The control device 2 may also calculate the shape of the region on the paint film SF where the defect occurs (for example, the shape in a plane along the surface of the paint film SF) as the shape of the defect. For example, the control device 2 may calculate the size of the defect, which is an example of the defect characteristics, based on the defect measurement information. The size of the defect may include at least one of the size of the defect in the X-axis direction, the size of the defect in the Y-axis direction, and the size of the defect in the Z-axis direction. The control device 2 may also calculate the size of the region on the paint film SF where the defect occurs as the size of the defect. For example, based on the defect measurement information, the control device 2 may calculate, as an example of defect characteristics, the difference between the characteristics of the riblet structure where the defect occurs and the design characteristics (i.e., the deviation (error) from the allowable value of the actual characteristics of the riblet structure). In this case, the defect measurement device 33b may perform a measurement operation to measure the characteristics of the defect present in the measured region DMA. In other words, the defect measurement device 33b may perform a measurement operation to acquire defect measurement information that can be used to calculate the characteristics of the defect in the measured region DMA.

[0179] If defects exist in the measured region DMA, the control device 2 may determine the number of defects based on the defect measurement information. In other words, the control device 2 may perform a number calculation operation to calculate the number of defects as at least part of the defect inspection operation. In this case, the defect measurement device 33b may perform a measurement operation to measure the number of defects present in the measured region DMA. In other words, the defect measurement device 33b may perform a measurement operation to acquire defect measurement information that can be used to calculate the number of defects in the measured region DMA.

[0180] The control device 2 may perform a defect inspection operation based on defect measurement information and feature information relating to the surface characteristics of the painted film SF (in particular, the characteristics of the measured region DMA on the surface of the painted film SF). For example, if no defect occurs in the measured region DMA, the actual characteristics of the measured region DMA indicated by the defect measurement information should match the design characteristics (or ideal characteristics) of the measured region DMA indicated by the feature information. On the other hand, if a defect occurs in the measured region DMA, for example, the actual characteristics of the measured region DMA indicated by the defect measurement information are unlikely to match the design characteristics (or ideal characteristics) of the measured region DMA indicated by the feature information. For this reason, the control device 2 may perform a defect inspection operation by comparing the defect measurement information and the feature information.

[0181] The control device 2 may perform a defect inspection operation based on defect measurement information and design information relating to the design characteristics of the riblet structure (i.e., features, such as shape, size, and at least one of the arrangements such as pitch and spacing). For example, if no defects occur in the measured area DMA, the actual state of the surface of the painted film SF indicated by the defect measurement information (more specifically, the actual characteristics of the riblet structure formed on the surface of the painted film SF) should match the design characteristics of the riblet structure indicated by the design information. On the other hand, if, for example, a defect occurs in the measured area DMA, the actual characteristics of the riblet structure indicated by the defect measurement information are unlikely to match the design characteristics of the riblet structure indicated by the design information. For this reason, the control device 2 may perform a defect inspection operation by comparing the defect measurement information and the design information. When design information is used in the defect inspection operation in this way, the control device 2 can inspect defects in the riblet structure more appropriately than when design information is not used in the defect inspection operation. In other words, the control device 2 can inspect the processing quality of the riblet structure more appropriately. To put it another way, the control device 2 can evaluate the characteristics (features) of the riblet structure more appropriately.

[0182] The defect measurement device 33b may be any type of measuring device, as long as it can acquire defect measurement information usable for defect inspection operations. For example, the defect measurement device 33b may be capable of measuring the surface of the coating film SF in a non-contact manner. An example of a measuring device capable of measuring the surface of the coating film SF in a non-contact manner is a measuring device capable of optically measuring the surface of the coating film SF. Another example of a measuring device capable of measuring the area to be measured DMA in a non-contact manner is a measuring device that measures the coating film SF using at least one of sound waves and radio waves.

[0183] As mentioned above, the foreign matter measuring device 31 described above may also be a measuring device capable of measuring the surface of the coating film SF without contact. For this reason, the defect measuring device 33b may be a measuring device similar to the foreign matter measuring device 31. For example, the defect measuring device 33b may include an imaging device (i.e., a camera) 311 capable of imaging the surface of the coating film SF, similar to the foreign matter measuring device 31 (see Figure 4 above). In this case, the control device 2 may perform a defect inspection operation by analyzing the image captured by the imaging device 311. If the defect measuring device 33b includes an imaging device 311, the area of ​​the surface of the coating film SF included in the imaging range of the imaging device 311 may become the area to be measured DMA. Alternatively, the defect measuring device 33b may include a light receiving device 312 capable of receiving light from the surface of the coating film SF (in particular, at least one of scattered light scattered by the surface of the coating film SF and diffracted light diffracted by the surface of the coating film SF), similar to the foreign matter measuring device 31 (see Figure 5). Furthermore, similar to the case where foreign matter is present on the surface of the coating film SF, if a defect occurs on the surface of the coating film SF, the scattered light scattered from the surface of the coating film SF and / or the diffracted light diffracted from the surface of the coating film SF are relatively more likely to travel in a direction different from the direction in which the specularly reflected light of the inspection light travels. Therefore, the scattered light and / or diffracted light may contain information about the defect. In this case, the control device 2 may calculate the characteristics (e.g., intensity, etc.) of the scattered light and / or diffracted light from the light receiving result of the light receiving device 312 and perform a defect inspection operation based on the calculated characteristics of the scattered light and / or diffracted light. Furthermore, if the defect measurement device 33b includes the light receiving device 312, the area of ​​the surface of the coating film SF that is irradiated with light for defect inspection (i.e., the area from which scattered light and / or diffracted light is emitted) may become the measurement area DMA.

[0184] The defect repair device 34b repairs defects occurring on the surface of the paint film SF under the control of the control device 2. In other words, the defect repair device 34b performs defect repair operations to repair defects under the control of the control device 2. Specifically, the defect repair device 34b repairs defects occurring on the surface of the paint film SF in an area included in the repair range where the defect repair device 34b performs defect repair operations (hereinafter referred to as the "repair area PA"). However, the defect repair device 34b may also repair defects occurring on the surface of the paint film SF independently of the control of the control device 2.

[0185] The repair area PA may coincide with the measured area DMA described above. That is, the defect measurement device 33b and the defect repair device 34b may be aligned so that the repair area PA and the measured area DMA coincide. Alternatively, the repair area PA may partially overlap with the measured area DMA described above. That is, the defect measurement device 33b and the defect repair device 34b may be aligned so that the repair area PA and the measured area DMA partially overlap. Alternatively, the repair area PA may not overlap with the measured area DMA described above. That is, the defect measurement device 33b and the defect repair device 34b may be aligned so that the repair area PA and the measured area DMA do not overlap. Figure 22 shows an example where the repair area PA and the measured area DMA coincide.

[0186] The defect repair device 34b is attached to the mounting member 19 to which the light irradiation device 11 is attached. Therefore, the defect repair device 34b moves in accordance with the movement of the light irradiation device 11 by the drive system 12. In other words, the defect repair device 34b moves together with the light irradiation device 11 relative to the paint film SF. As a result, the repair area PA to which the defect repair device 34b repairs defects also moves on the paint film SF. Therefore, the defect repair device 34b can remove defects present in a repair area PA that can be set to a desired area on the paint film SF. However, the defect repair device 34b does not have to be attached to the mounting member 19. The defect repair device 34b may be attached to a member other than the mounting member 19. The defect repair device 34b may be attached to the light irradiation device 11. The defect repair device 34b may be movable independently of the light irradiation device 11. The defect repair device 34b may be movable independently of the defect measurement device 33b. The defect repair device 34b does not need to be movable.

[0187] The defect repair device 34b may include any device as long as it can repair the defect. For example, the defect repair device 34b may repair the defect by adding material to at least a portion of the surface of the paint film SF (e.g., filling with a repair filler (e.g., putty)) so that the surface condition of the paint film SF becomes ideal. For example, the defect repair device 34b may repair the defect by removing at least a portion of the surface of the paint film SF (e.g., scraping it off) so that the surface condition of the paint film SF becomes ideal. For example, the defect repair device 34b may repair the defect by adding material to at least a portion of the riblet structure (e.g., filling with a repair filler (e.g., putty)) so that the properties of the riblet structure become the properties of the design. For example, the defect repair device 34b may repair the defect by removing at least a portion of the riblet structure (e.g., scraping it off) so that the properties of the riblet structure become the properties of the design.

[0188] Furthermore, when a defective riblet structure is repaired, the quality of the riblet structure should improve. Therefore, the action of repairing defects in the riblet structure can be considered, in effect, equivalent to the action of improving the quality of the riblet structure (i.e., the machining quality resulting from the machining process).

[0189] Furthermore, considering that the riblet structure is formed by irradiation with processing light EL, it should be possible to repair defects (especially defects in the riblet structure) on the surface of the coating film SF by irradiating it with processing light EL. For this reason, the control device 2 may repair defects (especially defects in the riblet structure) by controlling the processing device 1 in addition to or instead of the defect repair device 34b. In other words, the control device 2 may control the processing device 1 to repair defects (especially defects in the riblet structure) by irradiating the surface of the coating film SF with processing light EL. When defects are repaired using the processing device 1 in this way, the processing system SYSb does not need to be equipped with the defect repair device 34b.

[0190] (2-2) Defect inspection operation and defect repair operation Next, we will explain the specific procedures for defect inspection using the defect measurement device 34b and defect repair using the defect repair device 34b.

[0191] As described above, the defect measurement device 33b and the control device 2 perform defect inspection operations. In the second embodiment, the defect measurement device 33b and the control device 2 perform defect inspection operations on a target area on the surface of the painted film SF after a processing operation has been performed on that target area. The defect measurement device 33b and the control device 2 perform defect inspection operations on the processed area on the surface of the painted film SF where the processing operation has been performed. The defect measurement device 33b and the control device 2 do not need to perform defect inspection operations on the unprocessed area on the surface of the painted film SF where the processing operation has not been performed. As a result, the defect measurement device 33b and the control device 2 can appropriately inspect not only defects in the painted film SF itself, but also defects in the riblet structure formed by the processing operation. In other words, the defect measurement device 33b and the control device 2 can appropriately inspect the quality of the riblet structure formed by the processing operation. The defect measurement device 33b and the control device 2 can appropriately evaluate the characteristics of the riblet structure formed by the processing operation.

[0192] For example, the defect measurement device 33b and the control device 2 may perform a defect inspection operation on one of the multiple processing shot areas SA after a processing operation has been performed on that processing shot area SA. The defect measurement device 33b and the control device 2 may perform a defect inspection operation on the processing shot area SA on the surface of the coating film SF where a processing operation has been performed. The defect measurement device 33b and the control device 2 do not need to perform a defect inspection operation on the processing shot area SA on the surface of the coating film SF where no processing operation has been performed.

[0193] For example, the defect measurement device 33b and the control device 2 may perform a defect inspection operation on a portion of a processing shot area SA after a processing operation has been performed on that portion of the processing shot area SA. The defect measurement device 33b and the control device 2 may also perform a defect inspection operation on the processed portion of the processing shot area SA on which the processing operation has been performed. The defect measurement device 33b and the control device 2 do not need to perform a defect inspection operation on the unprocessed portion of the processing shot area SA on which the processing operation has not been performed.

[0194] The defect measurement device 33b and the light irradiation device 11 may be aligned so that a defect inspection operation is performed after the processing operation. Specifically, the defect measurement device 33b and the light irradiation device 11 may be aligned based on the direction of movement of the light irradiation device 11. Since the target irradiation area EA moves when the light irradiation device 11 moves, the defect measurement device 33b and the light irradiation device 11 may be aligned based on the direction of movement of the target irradiation area EA.

[0195] For example, Figure 23 is a plan view showing three processing shot areas SA#1 to SA#3 set on a coating film SF. In particular, Figure 23 shows an example where the three processing shot areas SA#1 to SA#3 are arranged along the X-axis, with processing shot area SA#2 set on the +X side of processing shot area SA#1, and processing shot area SA#3 set on the +X side of processing shot area SA#2. Here, when the light irradiation device 11 performs processing operations on processing shot areas SA#1 to SA#3 in this order, the light irradiation device 11 moves from above processing shot area SA#1 to above processing shot area SA#2, and then moves from above processing shot area SA#2 toward the information of processing shot area SA#3. In other words, the light irradiation device 11 moves along the X-axis and toward the +X side relative to the coating film SF. Furthermore, in accordance with the movement of the light irradiation device 11, the target irradiation area EA also moves along the X-axis and toward the +X side. In this case, as shown in Figure 23, the defect measurement device 33b and the light irradiation device 11 may be aligned along the X-axis direction (i.e., the direction of movement of the light irradiation device 11 and the direction of movement of the target irradiation area EA). Furthermore, as shown in Figure 23, the defect measurement device 33b and the light irradiation device 11 may be aligned such that the defect measurement device 33b is positioned on the -X side of the light irradiation device 11 (i.e., the rear side in the direction of movement of the light irradiation device 11 and the rear side in the direction of movement of the target irradiation area EA). As a result, as shown in Figure 23, the area on the coating film SF where processing operations are performed and the area on the coating film SF where defect inspection operations are performed are aligned along the X-axis direction (i.e., the direction of movement of the light irradiation device 11 and the direction of movement of the target irradiation area EA). Furthermore, as shown in Figure 23, a defect inspection area is located on the -X side of the area where the processing operation is performed (i.e., the rear side in the direction of movement of the light irradiation device 11, and the rear side in the direction of movement of the target irradiation area EA). In Figure 23, the area where the processing operation is performed is typically the area where the light irradiation device 11 irradiates with processing light EL (in the example shown in Figure 23, the area at least partially includes the processing shot area SA#2).The region in Figure 23 where the defect inspection operation is performed is typically the region in which at least a part of the measurement region DMA is set (in the example shown in Figure 23, the region in which at least a portion of the machining shot region SA#1 is included). As a result, the defect measurement device 33b can perform a defect inspection operation on the machining shot region SA#1 after the machining device 1 has performed a machining operation on the machining shot region SA#1. Therefore, it is possible to realize a state in which the defect inspection operation is performed after the machining operation has been performed.

[0196] In the example shown in Figure 23, the defect measurement device 33b may perform a defect inspection operation on the processing shot area SA#1 for at least a portion of the time while the processing device 1 is performing a processing operation on the processing shot area SA#2. In other words, the processing operation on one area of ​​the coating film SF by the processing device 1 and the defect inspection operation on another area of ​​the coating film SF by the defect measurement device 33b may be performed in parallel. However, the processing operation on one area of ​​the coating film SF by the processing device 1 and the defect inspection operation on another area of ​​the coating film SF by the defect measurement device 33b do not have to be performed in parallel. For example, the defect measurement device 33b may perform a defect inspection operation for at least a portion of the time when the processing device 1 is not performing a processing operation (i.e., when the processing light EL is not irradiating the coating film SF). As an example, the defect measurement device 33b may perform a defect inspection operation during periodic maintenance of the coating film SF (especially periodic maintenance of the riblet structure).

[0197] In the example shown in Figure 23, as long as the area where the machining operation is performed and the area where the defect inspection operation is performed are aligned along the X-axis and the area where the defect inspection operation is performed is located on the -X side of the area where the machining operation is performed, the light irradiation device 11 and the defect measurement device 33b do not need to be aligned along the X-axis, nor do the defect measurement device 33b need to be located on the -X side of the light irradiation device 11. In other words, the defect measurement device 33b and the light irradiation device 11 may be aligned such that the area where the machining operation is performed and the area where the defect inspection operation is performed are aligned along the X-axis and the area where the defect inspection operation is performed is located on the -X side of the area where the machining operation is performed. Even in this case, it is possible to achieve a state in which the defect inspection operation is performed after the machining operation.

[0198] Alternatively, for example, Figure 24 is a plan view showing the movement trajectory of the target irradiation area EA due to a machining operation performed on a certain machining shot area SA. As shown in Figure 24 (and as already explained with reference to Figure 11), within the machining shot area SA, the target irradiation area EA moves along the Y-axis direction and from the -Y side to the +Y side due to the scanning operation. In this case, as shown in Figure 24, the defect measurement device 33b and the light irradiation device 11 may be aligned so that the defect measurement device 33b and the light irradiation device 11 are aligned along the Y-axis direction (i.e., the direction of movement of the target irradiation area EA). Furthermore, as shown in Figure 24, the defect measurement device 33b and the light irradiation device 11 may be aligned so that the defect measurement device 33b is positioned on the -Y side of the light irradiation device 11 (i.e., the rear side in the direction of movement of the target irradiation area EA). As a result, as shown in Figure 24, the area on the coating film SF where the machining operation is performed and the area on the coating film SF where the defect inspection operation is performed are aligned along the Y-axis direction (i.e., the direction of movement of the target irradiation area EA). Furthermore, as shown in Figure 24, the defect inspection operation is performed in the area on the -Y side of the area where the processing operation is performed (i.e., the rear side in the direction of movement of the target irradiation area EA). In Figure 24, the area where the processing operation is performed is typically the area where the target irradiation area EA is set. In Figure 24, the defect inspection operation is typically the area where at least a part of the area to be measured DMA is set. As a result, the defect measurement device 33b can perform a defect inspection operation on a single area within the processing shot area SA after the processing device 1 has performed a processing operation on that area (specifically, after irradiating it with processing light EL). Therefore, it is possible to achieve a state in which the defect inspection operation is performed after the processing operation has been performed.

[0199] In the example shown in Figure 24, the defect measurement device 33b may perform a defect inspection operation on other areas within the machining shot area SA for at least a portion of the time during which the machining device 1 is performing a machining operation on one area within the machining shot area SA.

[0200] In the example shown in Figure 24, as long as the area where the machining operation is performed and the area where the defect inspection operation is performed are aligned along the Y-axis and the area where the defect inspection operation is performed is located on the -Y side of the area where the machining operation is performed, the light irradiation device 11 and the defect measurement device 33b do not need to be aligned along the Y-axis, nor do the defect measurement device 33b need to be located on the -Y side of the light irradiation device 11. In other words, the defect measurement device 33b and the light irradiation device 11 may be aligned such that the area where the machining operation is performed and the area where the defect inspection operation is performed are aligned along the Y-axis and the area where the defect inspection operation is performed is located on the -Y side of the area where the machining operation is performed. Even in this case, it is possible to achieve a state in which the defect inspection operation is performed after the machining operation.

[0201] Figures 23 and 24 show examples where the direction in which the light irradiation device 11 moves to start a machining operation on another machining shot area SA after the machining operation on one area SA is completed (the X-axis direction in Figure 23) is different from the direction in which the target irradiation area EA moves during the scanning operation within the machining shot area SA (the Y-axis direction in Figure 24). However, the direction in which the light irradiation device 11 moves to start a machining operation on another machining shot area SA after the machining operation on one area SA is completed and the direction in which the target irradiation area EA moves during the scanning operation within the machining shot area SA may be the same. In this case, in both the situation shown in Figure 23 and the situation shown in Figure 24, it is possible to realize a state in which a defect inspection operation is performed after the machining operation has been performed.

[0202] Alternatively, the processing system SYSb may include a plurality of defect measurement devices 33b with different relative positions to the light irradiation device 11. In this case, the first defect measurement device 33b among the plurality of defect measurement devices 33b may be aligned with the light irradiation device 11 along the direction of movement of the light irradiation device 11, and may be positioned behind the light irradiation device 11 in the direction of movement of the light irradiation device 11. For example, the first defect measurement device 33b may be aligned with the light irradiation device 11 along the X-axis direction, and may be positioned on the -X side of the light irradiation device 11. On the other hand, the second defect measurement device 33b among the plurality of defect measurement devices 33b may be aligned with the light irradiation device 11 along the direction of movement of the target irradiation area EA, and may be positioned behind the light irradiation device 11 in the direction of movement of the target irradiation area EA. For example, the second defect measurement device 33b may be aligned with the light irradiation device 11 along the Y-axis direction, and may be positioned on the -Y side of the light irradiation device 11. Even in this case, in both the situation shown in Figure 23 and the situation shown in Figure 24 (i.e., when the direction of movement of the light irradiation device 11 and the direction of movement of the target irradiation area EA are different), it is possible to achieve a state in which a defect inspection operation is performed after the processing operation.

[0203] Furthermore, Figures 23 and 24 show not only the positional relationship between the light irradiation device 11 and the defect measurement device 33b, but also the positional relationship between the light irradiation device 11 and the foreign matter measurement device 31 (i.e., the positional relationship between the area where the processing operation is performed and the area where the foreign matter inspection operation is performed), as explained in Figures 20 and 21. As shown in Figures 23 and 24, the defect measurement device 33b and the foreign matter measurement device 31 may be arranged so as to sandwich the light irradiation device 11 along the X-axis direction (i.e., the direction of movement of the light irradiation device 11 and the direction of movement of the target irradiation area EA). Also, the area where the defect inspection operation is performed and the area where the foreign matter inspection operation is performed may be arranged so as to sandwich the area where the processing operation is performed along the X-axis direction (i.e., the direction of movement of the light irradiation device 11 and the direction of movement of the target irradiation area EA). As a result, a state is achieved in which the foreign matter inspection operation is performed before the processing operation and the defect inspection operation is performed after the processing operation. In other words, a state is achieved in which the foreign matter inspection operation, processing operation, and defect inspection operation are performed in this order for a certain area on the coating film SF.

[0204] However, the defect measurement device 33b and the control device 2 may perform a defect inspection operation on one target area of ​​the surface of the coating film SF before the processing operation is performed on that target area. In other words, the processing device 1 may perform a processing operation on one target area of ​​the surface of the coating film SF after the defect inspection operation has been performed on that target area. Such a defect inspection operation may be considered substantially equivalent to the defect inspection operation performed by the foreign matter measurement device 31 and the control device 2 described in the modified example of the first embodiment.

[0205] If the defect inspection operation reveals that a defect has occurred in one area of ​​the surface of the paint film SF, the control device 2 may control the defect repair device 34b to repair the defect in that area (i.e., perform a defect repair operation on that area) based on the result of the defect inspection operation. In other words, the defect repair device 34b may repair the defect in the area that was found to have a defect by the defect inspection operation, based on the result of the defect inspection operation. When the defect is repaired by the defect repair device 34b, the abnormal event of a defect occurring on the surface of the paint film SF is resolved. For this reason, the defect repair device 34b may also be called a resolution device for resolving abnormal events.

[0206] As described above, since the defect inspection operation is performed after the processing operation, the defect repair device 34b performs the defect repair operation after the processing operation. In other words, the defect repair device 34b performs the defect repair operation on one target area of ​​the surface of the coating film SF, if necessary, after the processing operation has been performed on that target area. The defect repair device 34b and the light irradiation device 11 may be aligned so that the defect removal operation is performed after the processing operation. Specifically, the defect repair device 34b and the light irradiation device 11 may be aligned according to the same criteria as the alignment criteria for the defect measurement device 33b and the light irradiation device 11. Specifically, the defect repair device 34b and the light irradiation device 11 may be aligned so that they are aligned along the direction of movement of the light irradiation device 11 and / or the target irradiation area EA. The defect repair device 34b and the light irradiation device 11 may be aligned such that the defect repair device 34b is positioned behind the light irradiation device 11 in the direction of movement of the light irradiation device 11 and / or the target irradiation area EA. The area on the coating film SF where the processing operation is performed and the area on the coating film SF where the defect repair operation is performed may be aligned along the direction of movement of the light irradiation device 11 and / or the target irradiation area EA. The area where the defect repair operation is performed may be positioned behind the area where the processing operation is performed in the direction of movement of the light irradiation device 11 and / or the target irradiation area EA.

[0207] Alternatively, the processing system SYSb may include a plurality of defect repair devices 34b with different relative positions to the light irradiation device 11. In this case, the first defect repair device 34b among the plurality of defect repair devices 34b may be aligned with the light irradiation device 11 along the direction of movement of the light irradiation device 11, and may be positioned behind the light irradiation device 11 in the direction of movement of the light irradiation device 11. On the other hand, the second defect repair device 34b among the plurality of defect repair devices 34b may be aligned with the light irradiation device 11 along the direction of movement of the target irradiation area EA, and may be positioned behind the light irradiation device 11 in the direction of movement of the target irradiation area EA. Even in this case, in both the situation shown in Figure 23 and the situation shown in Figure 24 (i.e., when the direction of movement of the light irradiation device 11 and the direction of movement of the target irradiation area EA are different), it is possible to realize a state in which a defect repair operation is performed after a processing operation.

[0208] If the defect inspection operation reveals that a defect has occurred in one area of ​​the surface of the coating film SF, the control device 2 may control the processing apparatus 1 to repair the defect in that area (i.e., perform a defect repair operation on that area) based on the result of the defect inspection operation. This is because, as described above, defects can also be repaired by irradiating the coating film SF with processing light EL. For this reason, the processing apparatus 1 may irradiate the area in which a defect has been found to have occurred based on the result of the defect inspection operation with processing light EL in order to repair the defect in that area.

[0209] In order to determine whether a defect has been repaired by the defect repair device 34b and / or the processing device 1, the control device 2 may control the defect measuring device 33b so that after the defect repair device 34b and / or the processing device 1 has performed a defect repair operation on one area, it performs a defect inspection operation on the same area again. If the defect inspection operation performed again on the area determines that the defect in the area has not yet been repaired (i.e., the defect still exists), the control device 2 may control the defect repair device 34b and / or the processing device 1 to repair the defect in the area.

[0210] Depending on the nature of the defect repair operation, the control device 2 may control the processing device 1 to perform a processing operation (i.e., form a riblet structure) on the area where the defect repair operation was performed after the defect repair operation has been completed. For example, as described above, the defect repair device 34b may perform an operation to fill the surface of the paint film SF with a filler (e.g., putty) as a defect repair operation. In this case, the defect repair device 34b may fill the surface of the paint film SF with the filler so that the surface of the new layer formed on the paint film SF by the filler is flat. After that, the processing device 1 may perform a processing operation on the surface of the new layer formed on the paint film SF by the filler. In other words, the processing device 1 may form a riblet structure on the surface of the new layer formed on the paint film SF by the filler.

[0211] The control device 2 may control the display 4 to display information related to the defect inspection operation. For example, the control device 2 may control the display 4 to display information related to the results of the defect inspection operation. For example, the control device 2 may control the display 4 to display information indicating whether or not a defect was detected by the defect inspection operation. For example, the control device 2 may control the display 4 to display information related to the quality of the riblet structure (i.e., the evaluation result of the characteristics of the riblet structure) determined by the defect inspection operation. For example, the control device 2 may control the display 4 to display information related to the location (i.e., the location on the coating film SF) where a defect was detected by the defect inspection operation. For example, the control device 2 may control the display 4 to display information related to the characteristics of the defect detected by the defect inspection operation. When information related to the defect inspection operation is displayed on the display 4, the operator of the processing system SYSb can understand from the display results of the display 4 where and what kind of defect has occurred on the surface of the coating film SF. In this case, the operator may repair the defect themselves. In other words, the defect repair device 34b does not necessarily have to repair the defect.

[0212] The control device 2 may control the display 4 to display information related to the defect repair operation. For example, the control device 2 may control the display 4 to display information related to the result of the defect repair operation. For example, the control device 2 may control the display 4 to display information indicating whether or not the defect was repaired by the defect repair operation. If the defect was not repaired by the defect repair operation (i.e., the defect still exists despite the defect repair operation being performed), the control device 2 may control the display 4 to display a warning indicating that the defect could not be repaired.

[0213] Furthermore, the control device 2 may control at least one of the defect repair device 34b and the processing device 1 to perform defect repair operations regardless of defect inspection operations.

[0214] (2-3) Technical effects of the SYSb processing system The processing system SYSb of the second embodiment described above can enjoy the same effects as the processing system SYSa of the first embodiment described above. Furthermore, in the second embodiment, the processing system SYSa can perform defect inspection operations on the surface of the coating film SF using the defect measurement device 33b. Therefore, compared to the case where no defect inspection operation is performed, the processing system SYSb can improve the quality of the riblet structure that is ultimately formed on the coating film SF after the defect inspection operation (and, if necessary, defect repair operation).

[0215] (2-4) Modified example of the processing system SYSb The processing system SYSa does not need to be equipped with a defect repair device 34b. In this case, if a defect is found by the defect inspection operation to be present in one area of ​​the surface of the coating film SF, the operator of the processing system SYSb may repair the defect.

[0216] (3) Processing system SYSc of the third embodiment Next, we will describe the machining system SYS of the third embodiment (hereinafter, the machining system SYS of the third embodiment will be referred to as "machining system SYSc").

[0217] (3-1) Structure of the processing system SYSc First, the structure of the machining system SYSc of the third embodiment will be described with reference to Figure 25. Figure 25 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the overall structure of the machining system SYSc of the third embodiment.

[0218] As shown in Figure 25, the machining system SYSc of the third embodiment differs from the machining system SYSa of the first embodiment or the machining system SYSb of the second embodiment in that it includes a machining device 1c instead of a machining device 1. Other features of the machining system SYSc may be the same as other features of the machining systems SYSa or SYSb. However, the machining system SYSc does not have to include at least one of the foreign matter measuring device 31, foreign matter removal device 32, defect measuring device 33b, and defect repair device 34b. For the sake of simplicity in the drawing, Figure 25 shows an example of the machining system SYSc that does not include the foreign matter measuring device 31, foreign matter removal device 32, defect measuring device 33b, and defect repair device 34b.

[0219] The processing device 1c differs from the processing device 1 in that it further includes a position measuring device 18c. Other features of the processing device 1c may be the same as other features of the processing device 1.

[0220] The position measuring device 18c measures the relative positional relationship between the coating film SF and the light irradiation device 11. In other words, the position measuring device 18c measures the relative positional relationship between the workpiece S and the light irradiation device 11. In the first embodiment, the position measuring device 18c measures the position of the coating film SF relative to the light irradiation device 11. In other words, the position measuring device 18c measures the position of the workpiece S relative to the light irradiation device 11.

[0221] In order to measure the position of the coating film SF relative to the light irradiation device 11 (i.e., the position of the workpiece S, hereinafter the same), the position measuring device 18c may measure the coating film SF. In other words, the position measuring device 18c may measure the workpiece S. In this case, the position measuring device 18c may be called an object measuring device because it measures an object that includes at least one of the coating film SF and the workpiece S.

[0222] The position measuring device 18c may be positioned in a fixed position relative to the light irradiation device 11 (particularly the optical system 112). The position measuring device 18c may be positioned in a position where its relative position to the light irradiation device 11 is fixed. The position measuring device 18c may be positioned in a position where the relative position between the light irradiation device 11 and the position measuring device 18c does not change even if the drive system 12 moves the light irradiation device 11. For example, Figure 25 shows an example in which the position measuring device 18c is attached to a mounting member 19 to which the light irradiation device 11 is attached. However, the position measuring device 18c may be attached to a member other than the mounting member 19. For example, the position measuring device 18c may be attached to the light irradiation device 11.

[0223] When the position measuring device 18c is positioned at a fixed location relative to the light irradiation device 11, the output from the position measuring device 18c (i.e., the measurement result of the position measuring device 18c) will include information regarding the position of the coating film SF relative to the light irradiation device 11. Specifically, the measurement result of the position measuring device 18c includes information regarding the position of the coating film SF relative to the position measuring device 18c. In other words, the measurement result of the position measuring device 18c includes information regarding the position of the coating film SF in the measurement coordinate system of the position measuring device 18c. Here, when the position measuring device 18c is positioned at a fixed location relative to the light irradiation device 11, the information regarding the position of the coating film SF relative to the position measuring device 18c will substantially include information regarding the position of the coating film SF relative to the light irradiation device 11 which is positioned at a fixed location relative to the position measuring device 18c. Therefore, the control device 2 can appropriately determine the position of the coating film SF relative to the light irradiation device 11.

[0224] The position measuring device 18c may be any type of measuring device, as long as it is capable of measuring the paint film SF. For example, the position measuring device 18c may include an imaging device (i.e., a camera) capable of imaging an object such as the paint film SF. The position measuring device 18c may include an illumination device that irradiates the paint film SF with measurement light to draw a predetermined pattern on the paint film SF, and an imaging device that images the pattern drawn on the paint film SF by the measurement light. Thus, the position measuring device 18c may be a measuring device that measures the paint film SF in a non-contact manner (for example, at least one of the following: a light detection method, a sound wave detection method, and a radio wave detection method).

[0225] Furthermore, the processing apparatus 1c may be equipped with a plurality of position measuring devices 18c. In this case, the measuring axes of the plurality of position measuring devices 18c (for example, in optical measurement methods such as imaging methods, typically the optical axes) may intersect (or twist) with each other, or they may be parallel (or coaxial) with each other.

[0226] The control device 2 may control the drive system 12 based on the measurement results of the position measuring device 18c. In other words, the control device 2 may control the drive system 12 to change the relative position between the paint film SF and the light irradiation device 11 based on the measurement results of the position measuring device 18c. Specifically, the control device 2 may acquire information regarding the relative positional relationship between the paint film SF and the light irradiation device 11 based on the measurement results of the position measuring device 18c, and control the drive system 12 based on the information regarding the relative positional relationship between the paint film SF and the light irradiation device 11. If the position measuring device 18c is equipped with an imaging device, the control device 2 may control the drive system 12 using a visual servo based on the measurement results of the position measuring device 18c (i.e., the image captured by the imaging device). The visual servo may also be called a vision servo.

[0227] The control device 2 may change the relative position between the coating film SF and the light irradiation device 11 based on the measurement results of the position measuring device 18c so that the processing light EL is irradiated onto a desired processing shot area SA on the coating film SF. For example, the control device 2 may change the relative position between the coating film SF and the light irradiation device 11 based on the measurement results of the position measuring device 18c so that the processing light EL is irradiated onto a desired area within the desired processing shot area SA on the coating film SF. Since the processing light EL is irradiated onto the target irradiation area EA, the operation of changing the relative position between the coating film SF and the light irradiation device 11 may be considered equivalent to the operation of changing the position of the target irradiation area EA on the coating film SF.

[0228] (3-2) Measurement operation by position measuring device 18c Next, the measurement operation for measuring the relative positional relationship between the coating film SF and the light irradiation device 11 by the position measuring device 18c will be described. In the third embodiment, the position measuring device 18c can perform at least one of the first measurement operation, the second measurement operation, and the third measurement operation. For this reason, the first to third measurement operations will be described in order below.

[0229] (3-2-1) First measurement operation The first measurement operation measures the relative positional relationship between the painted film SF and the light irradiation device 11 by measuring the position of the processed area FA1 on the surface of the painted film SF that has been processed by the processing operation. In other words, the first measurement operation measures the relative positional relationship between the painted film SF and the light irradiation device 11 by measuring the position of the processed area FA1 on the surface of the painted film SF in which a riblet structure has been formed by the processing operation.

[0230] Specifically, Figure 26 is a plan view showing the processed area FA1 on the surface of the painted film SF. As shown in Figure 26, before the processing operation is complete, the surface of the painted film SF usually has an unprocessed area FA2 in addition to the processed area FA1, which has not yet been processed by the processing operation (i.e., the riblet structure has not yet been formed). The processed area FA1 and the unprocessed area FA2 are usually adjacent to each other. For this reason, the operation to measure the position of the processed area FA1 can be considered to be substantially equivalent to the operation to measure the position of the unprocessed area FA2. For this reason, the control device 2 can determine the position of the unprocessed area FA2 (specifically, the position of the unprocessed area FA2 relative to the light irradiation device 11) based on the result of the first measurement operation to measure the position of the processed area FA1. As a result, the control device 2 can change the relative position between the coating film SF and the light irradiation device 11 so that the processing light EL is irradiated to at least a portion of the unprocessed area FA2, based on the measurement results of the position of the processed area FA1. In other words, the control device 2 can change the relative position between the coating film SF and the light irradiation device 11 so that the target irradiation area EA moves within the unprocessed area FA2.

[0231] The processed area FA1 and the unprocessed area FA2 are normally adjacent to each other via a boundary B between them. In other words, the processed area FA1 and the unprocessed area FA2 are normally adjacent to each other with the boundary of the processed area FA1, which constitutes boundary B, overlapping with the boundary of the unprocessed area FA2, which also constitutes boundary B. For this reason, the position measuring device 18c may measure the position of the processed area FA1 by measuring the position of boundary B.

[0232] The processed region FA1 and the unprocessed region FA2 have different characteristics (e.g., optical characteristics). The position measuring device 18c may measure the position of the processed region FA1 by utilizing the fact that the characteristics of the processed region FA1 and the unprocessed region FA2 are different. For example, if the position measuring device 18c is equipped with an imaging device, the measurement result of the position measuring device 18c (i.e., the image captured by the imaging device) will show the processed region FA1 and the unprocessed region FA2 in a state that is optically distinguishable. Therefore, the control device 2 can determine the position of the processed region FA1 by analyzing the measurement result of the position measuring device 18c (e.g., by performing image analysis).

[0233] A specific example of the operation to change the relative positional relationship between the painted film SF and the light irradiation device 11 based on the measurement results of the position of such processed area FA1 will be explained with reference to Figure 27. Figure 27 is a plan view showing the surface of the painted film SF, in which eight processed shot areas SA#1 to SA#8 are set. The eight processed shot areas SA#1 to SA#8 are arranged in this order along the X-axis, with processed shot areas SA#1 to SA#4 and processed shot areas SA#5 to SA#8 arranged in this order along the X-axis, and processed shot areas SA#5 to SA#8 are adjacent to processed shot areas SA#1 to SA#4 on the +Y side, respectively.

[0234] For these eight processing shot areas SA#1 to SA#8, the processing device 1 will perform processing operations in this order. In the example shown in Figure 27, processing shot areas SA#1 to SA#5 are processed areas FA1 where processing operations have already been performed. On the other hand, processing shot areas SA#6 to SA#8 are unprocessed areas FA2 where processing operations have not yet been performed. In this case, the processing device 1 will next perform processing operations on processing shot area SA#6. The first measurement operation performed when processing processing shot area SA#6 will now be described. However, the first measurement operation performed when processing processing shot areas SA other than processing shot area SA#6 may be performed in the same way as the first measurement operation performed when processing shot area SA#6.

[0235] In this case, as shown in Figure 27, the position measuring device 18c measures, for example, the position of the boundary B between the processed area FA1 and the unprocessed area FA2. The boundary B between the processed area FA1 and the unprocessed area FA2 includes the boundaries between the processed shot area SA#6 and the processed shot areas SA#2 and SA#5, the boundaries between the processed shot area SA#7 and the processed shot area SA#3, and the boundaries between the processed shot area SA#8 and the processed shot area SA#8. If the processing operation is to be performed on the processed shot area SA#6 next, the position measuring device 18c may, in particular, measure the position of the boundaries between the processed shot area SA#6 and the processed shot areas SA#2 and SA#5. As a result, the control device 2 can identify the position of the processed shot area SA#6 to be processed next based on the measurement results of the position measuring device 18c. For this reason, the control device 2 can change the relative position between the coating film SF and the light irradiation device 11 so that the light irradiation device 11 is positioned so that it can irradiate the processed shot area SA#6 with processing light EL. Subsequently, after the light irradiation device 11 is positioned to irradiate the processing shot area SA#6 with processing light EL, the processing device 1 starts the processing operation on the processing shot area SA#6.

[0236] Furthermore, as shown in Figure 27, the measurement range IA of the position measuring device 18c may be set to be wider than the machining shot area SA. Alternatively, the measurement range IA of the position measuring device 18c may be set to encompass the machining shot area SA. In this case, the control device 2 can appropriately identify the position of the machining shot area SA in which the next machining operation will be performed, based on the measurement results of the position measuring device 18c.

[0237] The machined area FA1 and the unmachined area FA2 adjacent to each other via boundary B may have the same shape and size. More specifically, the area in the unmachined area FA2 that is scheduled to be machined next (for example, a certain machining shot area SA) may have the same shape and size as the adjacent area in the machined area FA1 that is adjacent to the area scheduled to be machined via boundary B (for example, a certain machining shot area SA). For example, assuming that machining shot areas SA#1 to SA#4 are not set in the example shown in Figure 27, the machining shot area SA#6 in the unmachined area FA2 that is scheduled to be machined next has the same shape and size as the machining shot area SA#5 in the machined area FA1 that is adjacent to machining shot area SA#6 via boundary B. However, the unmachined area FA2 may be smaller than the machined area FA1 adjacent to the unmachined area FA2 via boundary B. More specifically, the area in the unprocessed area FA2 where the next processing operation should be performed (for example, a certain processing shot area SA) may be smaller than the adjacent area in the processed area FA1 that is adjacent to the area in the processed area FA1 via boundary B (for example, a certain processing shot area SA). For example, in the example shown in Figure 27, the processing shot area SA#6 in the unprocessed area FA2 where the next processing operation should be performed is smaller than the area in the processed area FA1 that includes processing shot areas SA#2 and SA#5 that are adjacent to processing shot area SA#6 via boundary B.

[0238] After the machining operation on the machining shot area SA#6 is initiated, the machining light EL is scanned over the machining shot area SA#6 by the galvanometer mirror 1122. As a result, as shown in Figure 28, a magnified plan view of the area around the machining shot area SA#6, the proportion occupied by the machined area FA1 within the machining shot area SA#6 increases. In other words, the extent of the machined area FA1 on the surface of the coating film SF does not substantially move. Even when machining operations are being performed on the machining shot area SA#6 in this manner, the position measuring device 18c may measure, for example, the position of the boundary B between the machined area FA1 and the unmachined area FA2. In particular, the position measuring device 18c may measure the position of the boundary B between the machined area FA1 and the unmachined area FA2 within the machining shot area SA#6. As a result, the control device 2 can identify the position of the unmachined area FA2 within the machining shot area SA#6 based on the measurement results of the position measuring device 18c. Therefore, the control device 2 can change the relative position between the coating film SF and the light irradiation device 11 so that the light irradiation device 11 is positioned so that it can irradiate the unprocessed area FA2 within the processing shot area SA#6 with processing light EL. Alternatively, considering that the irradiation position of the processing light EL within the processing shot area SA#6 (i.e., the position of the target irradiation area EA) is mainly controlled by the galvanometer mirror 1122, the control device 2 may control the galvanometer mirror 1122 so that it irradiates the unprocessed area FA2 within the processing shot area SA#6 with processing light EL.

[0239] Alternatively, after the machining operation on the machining shot area SA#6 has started, the next position to be irradiated with the machining light EL within the machining shot area SA#6 should be adjacent to the portion of the machined area FA1 that is moving due to the scanning of the machining light EL (i.e., the portion on the forward side in the direction of movement, which is portion FA1s in Figure 28). For this reason, after the machining operation on the machining shot area SA#6 has started, the position measuring device 18c may measure the position of the portion of the machined area FA1 that is moving within the machining shot area SA#6, in addition to or instead of measuring the position of boundary B. Even in this case, the control device 2 may change the relative position between the coating film SF and the light irradiation device 11 and / or control the galvanometer mirror 1122 so as to irradiate the unmachined area FA2 within the machining shot area SA#6 (in particular, the position to be irradiated with the machining light EL next) based on the measurement results of the position measuring device 18c.

[0240] Furthermore, after the machining operation on the machining shot area SA#6 is started, the position measuring device 18c can measure the irradiation position of the machining light EL because the machining light EL is actually irradiated within the machining shot area SA#6. In other words, the position measuring device 18c can measure the position of the target irradiation area EA to which the machining light EL is irradiated. As a result, the control device 2 can identify the part on the direction of movement side of the target irradiation area EA (i.e., the irradiation position of the machining light EL) moving within the machining shot area SA#6 (i.e., the part on the forward side in the direction of movement, which is the part EAs in Figure 28). Here, the position to be next irradiated with the machining light EL within the machining shot area SA#6 should be adjacent to the part EAs on the direction of movement side of the target irradiation area EA (i.e., the irradiation position of the machining light EL). For this reason, after the machining operation on the machining shot area SA#6 is started, the position measuring device 18c may measure the position of the part on the direction of movement side of the machined area FA1 moving within the machining shot area SA#6, in addition to measuring the position of the boundary B. Even in this case, the control device 2 may change the relative position between the coating film SF and the light irradiation device 11 and / or control the galvanometer mirror 1122 so as to irradiate the unprocessed area FA2 within the processing shot area SA#6 (in particular the position where the processing light EL should be irradiated next) based on the measurement results of the position measuring device 18c.

[0241] Furthermore, when the position measuring device 18c measures the irradiation position of the processing light EL (i.e., the position of the target irradiation area EA), the control device 2 can determine whether or not the processing light EL is actually irradiating the unprocessed area FA2 within the processing shot area SA#6 (in particular the position where the processing light EL should be irradiated at that moment) based on the actual irradiation position of the processing light EL indicated by the measurement result of the position measuring device 18c. If it is determined that the processing light EL is not irradiating the unprocessed area FA2 within the processing shot area SA#6 (in particular the position where the processing light EL should be irradiated at that moment), the control device 2 may change the relative position between the coating film SF and the light irradiation device 11 and / or control the galvanometer mirror 1122 so that the processing light EL is irradiated into the unprocessed area FA2 within the processing shot area SA#6 (in particular the position where the processing light EL should be irradiated at that moment).

[0242] Thus, for at least a portion of the time during which the machining operation is performed on the machining shot area SA#6, the position measuring device 18c may measure the position of the machining shot area SA#6 (in particular, the position of the unmachined area FA2 within the machining shot area SA#6). On the other hand, once the machining operation on the machining shot area SA#6 is completed, the machining device 1 will then start machining on the machining shot area SA#7. In this case, the position measuring device 18c may pre-measure the position of the machining shot area SA#7 for at least a portion of the time during which the machining operation is performed on the machining shot area SA#6. In this case, the position measuring device 18c and the light irradiation device 11 may be aligned so that a measurement operation is performed to measure the position of the other machining shot area SA that will be machined after the first machining shot area SA, before the machining operation on the first machining shot area SA is completed. For example, as shown in Figure 29, which is an example of the positional relationship between the position measuring device 18c and the light irradiation device 11, the position measuring device 18c and the light irradiation device 11 may be aligned along the X-axis direction (i.e., the direction of movement of the light irradiation device 11, which is the direction in which the processing shot area SA is aligned). Furthermore, as shown in Figure 29, the position measuring device 18c and the light irradiation device 11 may be aligned such that the position measuring device 18c is positioned on the +X side of the light irradiation device 11 (i.e., the forward side in the direction of movement of the light irradiation device 11). As a result, as shown in Figure 29, the area in which the first measurement operation is performed on the coating film SF includes the area on the +X side (i.e., the forward side in the direction of movement of the light irradiation device 11) of the area in which the processing operation is performed on the coating film SF. Note that the area in which the measurement operation is performed in Figure 29 is typically an area that includes at least a part of the measurement range IA. Alternatively, the light irradiation device 11 and the position measuring device 18c do not need to be aligned along the X-axis, nor do the position measuring device 18c need to be positioned on the +X side of the light irradiation device 11, as long as the area in which the first measurement operation is performed includes the area on the +X side of the area in which the machining operation is performed. In other words, the position measuring device 18c and the light irradiation device 11 may be aligned such that the area in which the first measurement operation is performed includes the area on the +X side of the area in which the machining operation is performed.As a result, a state is achieved in which a first measurement operation is performed to measure the position of another machining shot area SA that will be machined after the first machining shot area SA, before the machining operation for the first machining shot area SA is completed.

[0243] In the above description, an example is given in which one processed region FA1 and one processed region FA2 are formed on the surface of the painted film SF. However, depending on the processing operation, multiple processed regions FA1 may be formed on the surface of the painted film SF. Also, depending on the processing operation, multiple unprocessed regions FA2 may be formed on the surface of the painted film SF. In this case, the position measuring device 18c may measure the positions of at least two of the multiple processed regions FA1. The position measuring device 18c may measure the positions of at least two of the multiple unprocessed regions FA2. The position measuring device 18c may measure the position of a single boundary B defined by at least one processed region FA1 and at least one unprocessed region FA2. The position measuring device 18c may measure the positions of at least two boundaries B defined by at least one processed region FA1 and at least one unprocessed region FA2.

[0244] As an example of a state in which multiple processed regions FA1 are formed on the surface of a painted film SF, as shown in Figure 30, two processed regions FA1 are formed on the surface of the painted film SF with an unprocessed region FA2 located between them. In such a situation, the control device 2 may control the processing device 1 to perform a processing operation on the unprocessed region FA located between the two processed regions FA1, based on the measurement results of the positions of the two processed regions FA1 (for example, the positions of the two boundaries B defined by the two processed regions FA1 and one unprocessed region FA2). In this case, the processing operation may be, for example, a processing operation that performs additional processing on the unprocessed region FA between two processed regions FA1 that are so close that they can be considered substantially adjacent. For example, in this case, the processing operation may be a processing operation that substantially combines the two processed regions FA1 into a single processed region FA1.

[0245] (3-2-2) Second measurement operation The second measurement operation measures the relative positional relationship between the coating film SF and the light irradiation device 11 by measuring the positions of feature points on the surface of the coating film SF (i.e., feature points of the workpiece S). A feature point on the surface of a certain coating film SF may include a point at a characteristic position in the three-dimensional shape of the object, which is represented by point cloud data, a set of points indicating the position on the surface of the coating film SF. Examples of feature points include at least one of the following on the coating film SF: vertices, corners, boundaries, the point furthest to +Z, the point furthest to -Z, the point furthest to +X, the point furthest to -X, the point furthest to +Y, and the point furthest to -Y.

[0246] In this case, the control device 2 can identify the position of feature points relative to the light irradiation device 11 within a reference coordinate system (for example, the measurement coordinate system of the position measuring device 18c) based on the measurement results of the position measuring device 18c. Furthermore, the control device 2 can identify the coordinates of feature points in the coordinate system of the 3D model data by referring to the 3D model data of the workpiece S (or the 3D model data of the coating film SF). Therefore, the control device 2 can identify the position of any part of the workpiece S (i.e., the coating film SF) within the reference coordinate system based on the measurement results of the position measuring device 18c and the 3D model data of the workpiece S (or the 3D model data of the coating film SF). As a result, the control device 2 can change the relative position between the coating film SF and the light irradiation device 11 so that the light irradiation device 11 is positioned within the reference coordinate system so that the processing light EL can be irradiated to a desired position on the coating film SF.

[0247] However, in the second measurement operation, it is more difficult to pinpoint the location of the unprocessed area FA2 (in particular, the area within the unprocessed area FA2 that is scheduled to be processed next) with high precision compared to the first measurement operation. For this reason, the control device 2 may perform the second measurement operation when it is difficult to perform the first measurement operation because there is no processed area FA1 on the painted film SF. For example, when the processing device 1 performs a processing operation on the painted film SF for the first time, there is a high probability that there is no processed area FA1 on the painted film SF. For this reason, the control device 2 may perform the second measurement operation when the processing device 1 performs a processing operation on the painted film SF for the first time. On the other hand, the control device 2 may perform the first measurement operation when it is possible to perform the first measurement operation because there is a processed area FA1 on the painted film SF. The control device 2 does not need to perform the second measurement operation when it is possible to perform the first measurement operation because there is a processed area FA1 on the painted film SF.

[0248] (3-2-3) Third measurement operation The third measurement operation measures the relative positional relationship between the coating film SF and the light irradiation device 11 by measuring the riblet structure formed on the surface of the coating film SF. In other words, the third measurement operation measures the relative positional relationship between the coating film SF and the light irradiation device 11 by measuring the riblet structure formed in the processed area FA1.

[0249] Specifically, as already explained with reference to Figures 6(a) and 6(b), the riblet structure is a structure in which a plurality of concave structures CP1 or a plurality of convex structures CP2 extending along a first direction (e.g., the Y-axis direction) have a periodic direction in a second direction (e.g., the X-axis direction) that intersects the first direction. In other words, the riblet structure is a periodic structure. For this reason, the riblet structure can be used as a so-called encoder scale for position measurement. The third measurement operation is the operation of measuring the relative positional relationship between the painted film SF and the light irradiation device 11 by using the riblet structure as an encoder scale.

[0250] When the riblet structure is used as an encoder scale, as shown in Figure 31, which shows the structure of the processing system SYSc including the position measuring device 18c for performing the third measurement operation, the position measuring device 18c comprises a light irradiating unit 181c and a light receiving unit 182c. The light irradiating unit 181c is a device that irradiates the riblet structure with measurement light ML. The light irradiating unit 181c is a device that emits measurement light ML toward the riblet structure. The light receiving unit 182c is a light receiving device that receives measurement light ML through the riblet structure (i.e., a detection device that detects measurement light ML). The light receiving unit 182c is a light receiving device that receives measurement light ML from the riblet structure. In particular, because the riblet structure is a periodic structure, the riblet structure can function as a diffraction grating in effect. In this case, the measurement light ML through the riblet structure (i.e., measurement light ML from the riblet structure) becomes diffracted light diffracted by the riblet structure. Therefore, the light-receiving section 182c receives diffracted light that has been diffracted by the riblet structure.

[0251] The control device 2 can determine the relative positional relationship between the coating film SF and the light irradiation device 11 based on the light reception result of the light receiving unit 182c. As a result, the control device 2 can change the relative position between the coating film SF and the light irradiation device 11 based on the light reception result of the light receiving unit 182c so as to irradiate the processing light EL to a desired position on the surface of the coating film SF.

[0252] However, if the light reception result of the light receiving unit 182c does not include a periodic signal corresponding to the period of the riblet structure, it may be difficult to determine the relative positional relationship between the painted film SF and the light irradiation device 11 based on the light reception result of the light receiving unit 182c, compared to when the periodic signal corresponding to the period of the riblet structure is included in the light reception result of the light receiving unit 182c. For this reason, the control device 2 may cause the measurement light ML to scan the riblet structure along a direction intersecting the direction in which the concave structure CP1 and convex structure CP2 constituting the riblet structure extend, in order to determine the relative positional relationship between the painted film SF and the light irradiation device 11. For example, the control device 2 may change the relative position between the painted film SF and the position measuring device 18c so that the measurement light ML can scan the riblet structure along a direction intersecting the direction in which the concave structure CP1 and convex structure CP2 extend. For example, the control device 2 may change the orientation of the position measuring device 18c relative to the coating film SF so that the measuring light ML can scan the riblet structure along a direction intersecting the direction in which the concave structure CP1 and the convex structure CP2 extend. Examples of the measuring light ML scanning the riblet structure along a direction intersecting the direction in which the concave structure CP1 and the convex structure CP2 extend are shown in Figures 32(a) and 32(b). For example, Figure 32(a) shows the measuring light ML scanning the riblet structure along a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the concave structure CP1 and the convex structure CP2 that constitute the riblet structure extend (in the example shown in Figure 32(a), the Y-axis direction). For example, Figure 32(b) shows the measuring light ML scanning the riblet structure along a direction that is not perpendicular to the direction in which the concave structure CP1 and the convex structure CP2 that constitute the riblet structure extend (in the example shown in Figure 32(b), the Y-axis direction), but intersects with it.

[0253] (3-4) Technical effects of the SYSc processing system The processing system SYSc of the third embodiment described above can enjoy the same effects as the processing system SYSa of the first embodiment or the processing system SYSb of the second embodiment described above. In addition, in the third embodiment, the processing system SYSc controls the drive system 12 based on the measurement results of the position measuring device 18c. As a result, the processing system SYSc can improve the positioning accuracy of the light irradiation device 11. In other words, the processing system SYSc can appropriately change the relative position between the painted film SF and the light irradiation device 11 so that the processing light EL is irradiated to a desired position on the painted film SF. As a result, the processing system SYSc can process the painted film SF more appropriately.

[0254] For example, the machining system SYSc can set the phase of the riblet structure formed in the machined region FA1 to a desired relationship with the phase of a newly formed riblet structure (for example, a riblet structure newly formed in the unmachined region FA2). Typically, the machining system SYSc can make the phase of the riblet structure formed in the machined region FA1 and the phase of the newly formed riblet structure match. Furthermore, the machining system SYSc can set the phases of the riblet structures formed in two machined shot regions SA (for example, machined shot regions SA#1 and SA#2) to a desired relationship (typically, a relationship where the phases match). In this case, the period of the riblet structure formed in the machined region FA1 and the period of the newly formed riblet structure may be the same. The periods of the riblet structures formed in two machined shot regions (for example, machined shot regions SA#1 and SA#2) may be the same.

[0255] (4) Other variations In the above description, the processing system SYS deflects the processing light EL with a galvanometer mirror 1122 to cause multiple processing light ELs to scan the surface of the painted film SF. However, in addition to or instead of deflecting the processing light EL with the galvanometer mirror 1122, the processing apparatus 1 may cause multiple processing light ELs to scan the surface of the painted film SF by moving the light irradiation device 11 relative to the painted film SF. In other words, the control device 2 may control the drive system 12 to move the light irradiation device 11 relative to the painted film SF so that the processing light ELs scan the surface of the painted film SF.

[0256] One of the purposes of the drive system 12 moving the light irradiation device 11 relative to the coating film SF is, as described above, to allow the processing light EL to scan the surface of the coating film SF. Therefore, if scanning of the coating film SF by the processing light EL can be achieved without the light irradiation device 11 moving, the light irradiation device 11 does not need to move. In other words, the processing system SYS does not need to be equipped with the drive system 12. For example, if the workpiece S moves relative to the light irradiation device 11, scanning of the coating film SF by the processing light EL can be achieved without the light irradiation device 11 moving. Therefore, the processing system SYS may be equipped with a drive system to move the workpiece S. For example, the processing system SYS may be equipped with a drive system to move the stage that supports the workpiece S.

[0257] One purpose of the drive system 12 to move the light irradiation device 11 relative to the coating film SF is to sequentially scan the multiple processing shot areas SA with the processing light EL without moving the housing device 13 and the support device 14 when multiple processing shot areas SA are housed in the housing space SP of the housing device 13. For this reason, when only one processing shot area SA is housed in the housing space SP, the light irradiation device 11 does not need to move. In other words, the processing device 1 does not need to be equipped with the drive system 12.

[0258] In the above description, the processing apparatus 1 includes a storage device 13, a support device 14, a drive system 15, an exhaust device 16, and a gas supply device 17. However, the processing apparatus 1 may not include at least one of the storage device 13, the support device 14, the drive system 15, the exhaust device 16, and the gas supply device 17 as long as the workpiece S can be processed. The processing apparatus 1 may not include at least a part of the storage device 13, the support device 14, the drive system 15, the exhaust device 16, and the gas supply device 17 as long as the workpiece S can be processed. When the processing apparatus 1 does not include the storage device 13, the drive system 12 may be attached to the support device 14. Furthermore, the respective structures of the storage device 13, the support device 14, the drive system 15, the exhaust device 16, and the gas supply device 17 described above are merely examples, and the processing apparatus 1 may include at least one of the storage device 13, the support device 14, the drive system 15, the exhaust device 16, and the gas supply device 17 having a structure different from the structure described above.

[0259] In the above description, the processing system SYS includes a display 4. However, the processing system SYS may not include the display 4.

[0260] In the above description, the processing system SYS forms a riblet structure on the surface of the workpiece S using a coating film SF. However, the processing system SYS may also form any structure on the surface of the workpiece S using a coating film SF having any shape. Even in this case, any structure having any shape can be formed if the control device 2 controls the light irradiation device 11, etc., so that the processing light EL scans the surface of the coating film SF along a scanning trajectory corresponding to the structure to be formed. An example of an arbitrary structure is a micro- or nanometer-order fine texture structure (typically an uneven structure) formed regularly or irregularly. Such a fine texture structure may include at least one of a sharkskin structure and a dimple structure, which have the function of reducing resistance by fluids (gases and / or liquids). The fine texture structure may also include a lotus leaf surface structure that has at least one of a liquid-repellent function and a self-cleaning function (for example, having a lotus effect). The fine texture structure may include at least one of the following: a fine protrusion structure having a liquid transport function (see U.S. Patent Publication No. 2017 / 0044002), an uneven structure having a hydrophilic function, an uneven structure having an antifouling function, a moth-eye structure having at least one of a reflectance reduction function and a liquid-repellent function, an uneven structure that exhibits structural color by interfering with only light of a specific wavelength, a pillar array structure having an adhesive function utilizing van der Waals forces, an uneven structure having an aerodynamic noise reduction function, and a honeycomb structure having a droplet collection function.

[0261] In the above description, the processing system SYS removes the coating film SF by evaporating the coating film SF through irradiation with the processing light EL. However, the processing system SYS may remove the coating film SF by changing the properties of the coating film SF through irradiation with the processing light EL, in addition to or instead of evaporating the coating film SF through irradiation with the processing light EL. For example, the processing system SYS may remove the coating film SF by melting the coating film SF through irradiation with the processing light EL and removing the melted coating film SF. For example, the processing system SYS may remove the coating film SF by making the coating film SF brittle through irradiation with the processing light EL and peeling off the brittle coating film SF. In the above description, the processing system SYS performs ablation processing on the coating film SF formed on the surface of the workpiece S. However, the processing system SYS may remove a part of the coating film SF formed on the surface of the workpiece S by thermal processing.

[0262] In the above description, the processing system SYS forms the recess C (or the concave structure CP1, or any structure such as a riblet structure formed by the concave structure CP1) by removing the coating film SF. That is, the processing system SYS processes the coating film SF so as to partially thin the coating film SF. However, the processing system SYS may process the coating film SF so as to partially thicken the coating film SF, in addition to or instead of partially thinning the coating film SF. That is, the processing system SYS may form a convex portion (or the convex structure CP2, or any structure formed by the convex structure CP2) by adding the coating film SF, in addition to or instead of forming the recess C by removing the coating film SF. For example, the processing system SYS irradiates a first portion of the coating film SF with the processing light EL to remove the coating film SF at the first portion, and then fixes the removed coating film SF to a second portion of the coating film SF, whereby the coating film SF at the second portion may be relatively thickened (that is, a convex portion may be formed at the second portion).

[0263] In the above description, the processing system SYS processes a coating film SF formed on the surface of the workpiece S. However, the processing system SYS may process any coating other than the coating film SF formed on the surface of the workpiece S. Alternatively, the processing system SYS may process a structure made up of multiple layers. Specifically, the processing system SYS may process at least one layer (typically, at least one layer including the outermost layer) of the multiple layers constituting the structure. The processing system SYS may process at least one layer of the multiple layers constituting the structure to form a structure made up of that layer. In this case, the at least one layer being processed corresponds to the coating film SF described above, and the other layers other than that at least one layer correspond to the workpiece S. Alternatively, the processing system SYS may process the workpiece S itself. In other words, the processing system SYS may process a workpiece S that does not have a coating film SF or any other coating formed on its surface.

[0264] In the above description, the machining system SYS forms a riblet structure on the workpiece S to reduce the fluid resistance of the workpiece S's surface. However, the machining system SYS may form other structures on the workpiece S that are different from the riblet structure for reducing the fluid resistance of the surface. For example, the machining system SYS may form a riblet structure on the workpiece S to reduce the noise generated when the fluid and the surface of the workpiece S move relative to each other. For example, the machining system SYS may form a structure on the workpiece S that generates vortices with respect to the fluid flow on the surface of the workpiece S. For example, the machining system SYS may form a structure on the workpiece S to give the surface of the workpiece S hydrophobicity.

[0265] (5) Note The following additional information is disclosed regarding the embodiments described above. [Note 1] In a processing method that processes an object using processing light, Performing a foreign object inspection on the area to be inspected on the surface of the aforementioned object, Irradiating the area to be inspected with processing light and A processing method that includes this. [Note 2] In a processing method that processes an object using processing light, Performing a defect inspection on the surface of the object in the area to be inspected on the surface of the object, Irradiating the area to be inspected with processing light and A processing method that includes this. [Note 3] In a processing method that processes an object using processing light, To remove foreign matter from at least a portion of the surface of the object, Irradiating at least a portion of the surface of the object with processing light A processing method that includes this. [Note 4] Receiving light from the surface of an object on which a structure that changes aerodynamic characteristics is formed, The characteristics of the structure formed on the surface of the object are evaluated using design information relating to the shape of the structure and information relating to the light reception results. Testing methods including those mentioned. [Note 5] In a processing method that processes an object using processing light, Irradiating a first region on the object with processing light, To measure the position of the first region on the object to which the processing light has been irradiated. Includes, The aforementioned irradiation includes irradiating a second region on the object, which is different from the first region, with processing light, using the position measurement results of the first region. Processing method. [Note 6] In a control device connected to a processing system that processes an object with processing light, A process of having an inspection device perform a foreign object inspection on the area to be inspected on the surface of the object, The process involves irradiating the area to be inspected with processing light using an irradiation device. To cause the processing system to perform this operation. Control device. [Note 7] A control device connected to a processing system that processes an object with processing light, a process of causing an inspection device to perform defect inspection on the surface of the object in an inspection target region on the surface of the object, a process of irradiating the inspection target region with processing light by an irradiation device, and causing the processing system to execute the control device. [Appendix 8] A control device connected to a processing system that processes an object with processing light, a process of removing foreign matter in at least a part on the surface of the object by a foreign matter removal device, a process of irradiating at least a part on the surface of the object with processing light by an irradiation device, and causing the processing system to execute the control device. [Appendix 9] A control device connected to an inspection system that inspects an object, a process of receiving light from the surface of the object, on which a structure for changing aerodynamic characteristics is formed on the surface, by a light receiving device, a process of evaluating the characteristics of the structure formed on the surface of the object using design information related to the shape of the structure and output information from the light receiving device, and causing the inspection system to execute the control device. [Appendix 10] A control device connected to a processing system that processes an object with processing light, a process of irradiating a first region on the object with processing light by an irradiation device, a process of measuring the position of the first region on the object irradiated with the processing light by a position measurement device, a process of irradiating a second region different from the first region on the object with processing light by the irradiation device using the position measurement result of the first region by the position measurement device, and causing the processing system to execute the control device. [Appendix 11] In a computer program to be executed by a computer that controls a processing system that processes objects with processing light, A process of having an inspection device perform a foreign object inspection on the area to be inspected on the surface of the object, The process involves irradiating the area to be inspected with processing light using an irradiation device. To cause the computer to execute Computer program. [Note 12] In a computer program to be executed by a computer that controls a processing system that processes objects with processing light, A process of having an inspection device perform a defect inspection on the surface of the object in the area to be inspected on the surface of the object. The process involves irradiating the area to be inspected with processing light using an irradiation device. To cause the computer to execute Computer program. [Note 13] In a computer program to be executed by a computer that controls a processing system that processes objects with processing light, A process of removing foreign matter from at least a portion of the surface of the object using a foreign matter removal device, A process of irradiating at least a portion of the surface of the object with processing light using an irradiation device. To cause the computer to execute Computer program. [Note 14] In a computer program to be executed by a computer that controls an inspection system for inspecting objects, A process in which a light receiving device receives light from the surface of an object on which a structure that changes the aerodynamic characteristics is formed, A process for evaluating the characteristics of the structure formed on the surface of the object, using design information relating to the shape of the structure and output information from the light receiving device. To cause the computer to execute Computer program. [Note 15] In a computer program to be executed by a computer that controls a processing system that processes objects with processing light, A process of irradiating a first region on the object with processing light using an irradiation device, A process of measuring the position of the first region on the object irradiated with the processing light using a position measuring device, Using the position measurement result of the first region by the position measuring device, the process involves irradiating a second region on the object, which is different from the first region, with processing light using the irradiation device. To cause the computer to execute Computer program. [Note 16] An irradiation device that irradiates an object with processing light for processing the object, An object measuring device that measures the relative position between the object and the irradiation device by measuring the object, A control device that changes the relative position between the object and the irradiation device based on the measurement results of the object measuring device. A processing system equipped with the following features. [Note 17] The relative position of the object measuring device with respect to the illumination device is fixed. The processing system described in Appendix 16. [Note 18] The object measuring device includes an imaging device. The processing system described in Appendix 16 or 17. [Note 19] The imaging device is capable of imaging the object. The processing system described in Appendix 18. [Note 20] The imaging device is capable of imaging the irradiation area of ​​the processing light on the object. The processing system described in Appendix 18 or 19. [Note 21] The object measuring device measures the position of characteristic points on the surface of the object. A processing system as described in any one of the items 16 to 20 of the appendix. [Note 22] The object measuring device measures the position of the processed area on the surface of the object that has been processed by irradiation with the processing light. A processing system as described in any one of the items 16 to 21 of the appendix. [Note 23] The object measuring device measures the position of the processed area on the surface of the object that has been processed by irradiation with the processing light, and the position of the unprocessed area on the surface of the object that has not yet been processed. A processing system as described in any one of the appendices 16 to 22. [Note 24] The object measuring device measures the position of the boundary between the processed area of ​​the object's surface, which has been processed by irradiation with the processing light, and the unprocessed area of ​​the object's surface, which has not yet been processed. A processing system as described in any one of the items 16 to 23 of the appendix. [Note 25] The object measuring device measures the processing pattern formed on the surface of the object by irradiation with the processing light. A processing system as described in any one of the items 16 to 24 of the appendix. [Note 26] The object measuring device includes an injection device that emits measurement light onto the processing pattern and a detection device that detects the measurement light from the processing pattern. The processing system described in Appendix 25. [Note 27] The processing pattern includes a pattern in which a plurality of unit patterns extending in a first direction along the surface of the object are arranged along a second direction that is along the surface of the object and intersects the first direction. The object measuring device measures the processing pattern by scanning the processing pattern with the measuring light along the second direction. The processing system described in Appendix 26. [Note 28] The object measuring device uses the processed pattern as an encoder scale. A processing system as described in any one of the items 25 to 27 of the appendix. [Note 29] The irradiation device further comprises a state measuring device that measures the state of a region of an object before irradiating that region with the processing light. The control device controls the irradiation device to irradiate the processing light onto the one region based on the measurement results of the state measuring device. A processing system as described in any one of the appendices 16 to 28. [Note 30] An irradiation device that irradiates an object with processing light for processing the object, Before the irradiation device irradiates the processing light onto one region of the object, a state measuring device measures the state of the one region, A control device that controls the irradiation device to irradiate the one region with the processing light based on the measurement results of the state measuring device, A processing system equipped with the following features. [Note 31] The state measuring device includes an imaging device capable of imaging the surface of the object. The processing system described in Appendix 29 or 30. [Note 32] The control device determines, based on the measurement results of the state measuring device, whether or not an abnormal event that could hinder processing by irradiation with the processing light has occurred in the one region. A processing system as described in any one of the items 29 to 31 of the appendix. [Note 33] The aforementioned abnormal event includes the event that a foreign object is attached to the aforementioned area one. The processing system described in Appendix 32. [Note 34] If the control device determines that the abnormal event has occurred in the first region, it controls the irradiation device to irradiate the first region with the processing light after the abnormal event has been resolved. The processing system described in Appendix 32 or 33. [Note 35] The aforementioned abnormal event includes the event that a foreign object is attached to the aforementioned area one, If the control device determines that the abnormal event has occurred in the first region, it controls the irradiation device to irradiate the first region with the processing light after the foreign matter has been removed from the first region. A processing system as described in any one of the appendices 32 to 34. [Note 36] If the control device determines that the abnormal event has occurred in the area, it controls the resolving device for resolving the abnormal event to resolve the abnormal event. A processing system as described in any one of the appendices 32 to 35. [Note 37] The aforementioned abnormal event includes the event that a foreign object is attached to the aforementioned area one, The elimination device includes a removal device for removing the foreign matter from the area. The processing system described in Appendix 36. [Note 38] The removal device removes the foreign matter from the area by spraying gas and / or liquid onto the area. The processing system described in Appendix 37. [Note 39] The irradiation device irradiates the object with processing light such that the irradiation area of ​​the processing light moves along the surface of the object in one direction along the surface of the object. On the surface of the object, the irradiation area to which the processing light is irradiated and the measurement area to be measured by the state measuring device are aligned along the one direction. A processing system as described in any one of the items 29 to 38 of the appendix. [Note 40] The measurement area is located in front of the irradiation area in the direction of movement of the irradiation area. The processing system described in Appendix 39. [Note 41] The state measuring device measures the state of the second region of the surface of the object during at least a portion of the period during which the irradiation device irradiates the first region of the surface of the object with the processing light. A processing apparatus as described in any one of the items 29 to 40 of the appendix. [Note 42] The irradiation device irradiates the object with processing light such that the irradiation area of ​​the processing light moves along the surface of the object in one direction along the surface of the object. The second region is located in front of the first region in the direction of movement of the irradiation region. The processing system described in Appendix 41. [Note 43] The aforementioned state measuring device is a first state measuring device, The irradiation device further comprises a second state measuring device that measures the state of other regions of the object after the irradiation device has irradiated other regions of the object with the processing light. A processing system as described in any one of the items 29 to 42 of the appendix. [Note 44] The second condition measuring device includes an imaging device capable of imaging the surface of the object. The processing system described in Appendix 43. [Note 45] The control device determines whether the processing quality in the other area is appropriate based on the measurement results of the second state measuring device. The processing system described in Appendix 43 or 44. [Note 46] The control device outputs information regarding whether the processing quality in the other area is appropriate, based on the measurement results of the second state measuring device. A processing system as described in any one of the appendices 43 to 45. [Note 47] The control device controls the irradiation device to irradiate the other area with the processing light based on the measurement results of the second state measuring device. A processing system as described in any one of the appendices 43 to 46. [Note 48] The control device controls the irradiation device to irradiate the other area with the processing light to improve the processing quality in the other area. The processing apparatus described in Appendix 47. [Note 49] The irradiation device irradiates the object with processing light such that the irradiation area of ​​the processing light moves along the surface of the object in one direction along the surface of the object. On the surface of the object, the irradiation area of ​​the processing light and the measurement area of ​​the second state measuring device are aligned along the one direction. A processing system as described in any one of the appendices 43 to 48. [Note 50] The measurement area is located on the rear side of the irradiation area in the direction of movement of the irradiation area. The processing system described in Appendix 49. [Note 51] The second state measuring device measures the state of the fourth region on the surface of the object for at least a portion of the period during which the irradiation device irradiates the third region on the surface of the object with the processing light. A processing apparatus as described in any one of the appendices 43 to 50. [Note 52] The irradiation device irradiates the object with processing light such that the irradiation area of ​​the processing light moves along the surface of the object in one direction along the surface of the object. The fourth region is located on the rear side of the irradiation region in the direction of movement relative to the third region. The processing system described in Appendix 51. [Note 53] The process involves irradiating the object with processing light from an irradiation device, The relative position between the object and the irradiation device is measured by measuring the object, Based on the measurement results of the relative position between the object and the irradiation device, the relative position between the object and the irradiation device is changed. A processing method that includes this. [Note 54] Before processing light for processing an object is irradiated onto a region of the object, the state of that region is measured, Based on the measurement results of the state of the first region, the processing light is irradiated onto the first region. A processing method that includes this. [Note 55] The process involves irradiating the object with processing light to form a first periodic structure in a first region on the object, By irradiating the object with processing light to process the object, a second periodic structure is formed in a second region on the object that is different from the first region. Includes, The phase of the first periodic structure is equal to the phase of the second periodic structure. Processing method. [Note 56] The period of the first periodic structure and the period of the second periodic structure are equal. The processing method described in Appendix 55.

[0266] The requirements of each embodiment described above can be combined as appropriate. Some of the requirements of each embodiment described above may not be used. The requirements of each embodiment described above can be replaced with the requirements of other embodiments as appropriate. Furthermore, to the extent permitted by law, all published gazettes and U.S. patent disclosures relating to the apparatus etc. cited in each embodiment described above will be incorporated into the text.

[0267] Furthermore, the present invention may be modified as appropriate, provided that it does not contradict the gist or idea of ​​the invention as can be inferred from the claims and the specification as a whole. Processing systems, inspection systems, processing methods, inspection methods, control devices, and computer programs involving such modifications are also included in the technical concept of the present invention. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0268] 1, 1c processing equipment 11 Light irradiation device 111 Light source system 1111 Light source 112 Optical system 1122 Galvano Mirror 12 Drivetrain 18c Position measuring device 2 Control device 31 Foreign object measuring device 311 Imaging device 312 Photodetector 32 Foreign matter removal device 33b Defect measurement device 34b Defect repair device 4 displays C recess CP1 concave structure CP2 convex structure EA target irradiation area EL processing light S - Workpiece SF coating film SYS Machining System SA processing shot area AMA, DMA measurement area

Claims

1. An irradiation device that irradiates an object with processing light to form an uneven surface on the object, A moving device for moving the irradiation device, An object measuring device is provided on the moving part of the irradiation device that moves with the aforementioned moving device, and measures the relative position between the object and the irradiation device by measuring the object, Based on the measurement results of the object measuring device, a control device controls the moving device. Equipped with, The object measuring device measures the uneven structure formed on the surface of the object by irradiation with the processing light, thereby measuring the boundary between the processed area and the unprocessed area where the uneven structure is formed. The control device controls the moving device to move the irradiation device so that the irradiation device can process the unprocessed area, based on the boundary position measurement result. Processing system.

2. The object measuring device measures the position of the processed area. The processing system according to claim 1.

3. The object measuring device measures the position of the processed area on the surface of the object that has been processed by irradiation with the processing light, and the position of the unprocessed area on the surface of the object that has not yet been processed. The processing system according to claim 1 or 2.

4. The object measuring device measures the position of the boundary between the processed region of the object's surface, which has been processed by irradiation with the processing light and in which multiple uneven structures are formed in a direction extending in the stretching direction and intersecting the stretching direction, and the unprocessed region of the object's surface that has not yet been processed, in the stretching direction or in a direction intersecting the stretching direction. The processing system according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

5. The object measuring device measures the processing pattern formed on the surface of the object by irradiation with the processing light. The processing system according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

6. The object measuring device includes an imaging device. The processing system according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

7. The imaging device is capable of imaging the object. The processing system according to claim 6.

8. The imaging device is capable of imaging the irradiation area of ​​the processing light on the object. The processing system according to claim 6 or 7.

9. The processing pattern formed on the object includes a pattern in which a plurality of unit patterns extending in a first direction along the surface of the object are arranged along a second direction that is along the surface of the object and intersects the first direction. The processing system according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

10. Using an irradiation device, processing light for processing an object is irradiated onto the object to form an uneven surface structure, Moving the irradiation device, The relative position between the object and the irradiation device is measured by measuring the object using an object measuring device provided on the moving part of the moving irradiation device, The moving device is controlled based on the measurement results of the object measuring device. Includes, The measurement described above includes measuring the uneven structure formed on the surface of the object by irradiation with the processing light, thereby measuring the boundary between the processed area and the unprocessed area where the uneven structure is formed. The aforementioned control includes controlling the moving device to move the irradiation device so that the irradiation device can process the unprocessed area, based on the boundary position measurement results. Processing method.

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