THIS PAPER ADDRESSES THE ISSUES CONFRONTED IN THE APPLICATION OF A LASER TRIANGULATION SENSOR AS AN INSPECTION DEVICE ON A MACHINE TOOL. AEROSPACE MANUFACTURERS AND OTHERS HAVE IDENTIFIED INSPECTION TIME AS A MAJOR PERCENTAGE OF THE TIME REQUIRED TO PRODUCE A FINISHED PART. FOR THIS REASON, A PROTOTYPE LASER SENSOR HAS BEEN DEVELOPED FOR THE PURPOSE OF INSPECTION ON THE MACHINE TOOL. THIS IMPOSES SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS ON THE SENSOR, SENSOR CONTROLLER, MACHINE TOOL CONTROLLER, AND POST-PROCESSING SOFTWARE. A REVIEW OF THESE REQUIREMENTS WILL BE PRESENTED. THE SYSTEM IMPLEMENTED WILL BE DESCRIBED. THERE WILL BE A BRIEF EXPLANATION OF HOW THIS TECHNOLOGY CAN BE APPLIED TO ON-LINE GAGING APPLICATIONS. FINALLY, THIS PAPER WILL DISCUSS WHAT FURTHER ADVANCEMENTS ARE REQUIRED TO ACHIEVE FULLY AUTOMATIC ON MACHINE INSPECTION.