An adaptive system framework for surface characterisation.

Surface features have been recognised to be significant in many fields and the characterisation techniques are being constantly improved. The surface characterisation systems are developed by various instrument companies and institutions. However, the lack of good extensibility, reusability and maintainability is a serious obstacle to the system innovation. Component based software development offers a promising solution to the surface characterisation system with better extendibility and maintainability. This paper presents an overview of surface characterisation techniques, analyzes current surface characterisation systems, and then proposes a component based architecture for the surface characterisation system.