Object imaging device and method using line striping
First Claim
1. Apparatus for measuring the surface geometry of an object, comprising:
- a housing having a transparent plate;
light projection means, disposed in the housing, for generating and simultaneously projecting a plurality of parallel lines of light onto the object through the transparent plate;
image capture means, disposed to receive a reflection of the projected plurality of parallel lines from the object, for capturing the reflection and storing a digital representation thereof into a computer memory; and
means for controlling the light projection means and the image capture means to separately capture first and second images, the first image comprising an image of the object with the light projection means activated to produce the plurality of parallel lines of light, the second image comprising an image of the object with the light projection means deactivated so that the object is illuminated only with ambient light.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A device and method is provided for quickly and accurately obtaining surface contour information from an object without the need for precisely aligning and calibrating mechanical structures or optics elements, and without moving parts. In various embodiments, the invention includes steps of projecting a plurality of parallel planes of laser light through a transparent plate onto a surface of the object, receiving a reflection from the object in a digital camera, and performing image processing on the reflected image to reconstruct the three-dimensional surface of the object therefrom. The image processing includes steps of subtracting an image of the object in its non-illuminated state from an image of the object illuminated by the plurality of parallel planes of light, performing a thresholding operation on the subtracted image, and generating a line array containing lines having curvature deformations due to surface deviations on the object. The line array is transformed into a three-dimensional image by applying a transformation matrix previously obtained by processing an image of a calibration gauge placed on the transparent plate. Both single-image and multiple-image projection systems may be implemented.
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Citations
34 Claims
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1. Apparatus for measuring the surface geometry of an object, comprising:
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a housing having a transparent plate; light projection means, disposed in the housing, for generating and simultaneously projecting a plurality of parallel lines of light onto the object through the transparent plate; image capture means, disposed to receive a reflection of the projected plurality of parallel lines from the object, for capturing the reflection and storing a digital representation thereof into a computer memory; and means for controlling the light projection means and the image capture means to separately capture first and second images, the first image comprising an image of the object with the light projection means activated to produce the plurality of parallel lines of light, the second image comprising an image of the object with the light projection means deactivated so that the object is illuminated only with ambient light. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method of measuring the surface geometry of an object, comprising the steps of:
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(1) placing the object onto a transparent plate; (2) generating and simultaneously projecting a plurality of parallel lines of light onto the object through the transparent plate; (3) capturing an image corresponding to a reflection of the projected plurality of parallel lines from the object; and (4) storing a digital representation of the captured image into a computer memory by separately capturing first and second images, the first image comprising an image of the object while illuminated by the plurality of parallel planes of light, the second image comprising an image of the object illuminated with only ambient light. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. Apparatus for measuring the surface geometry of an object, comprising:
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a housing having a transparent plate; a light source which generates a beam of light; a beamsplitter, disposed between the light source and the transparent plate, which splits the beam of light into a plurality of parallel lines of light which are transmitted through the transparent plate and reflected onto the surface of an object placed on the transparent plate; a camera positioned to receive a reflection of the surface of the object including the parallel lines of light as reflected from the surface of the object; a light control circuit coupled to the light source which alternately energizes and de-energizes the light source to alternately illuminate and darken the object, and creating thereby a first illuminated image of the object including the reflected parallel lines of light and a second non-illuminated image of the object; and a computer, coupled to the camera, which receives and stores the first illuminated image and the second non-illuminated image of the object from the camera, generates a subtracted image comprising a difference between the first illuminated image and the second non-illuminated image, and converts the subtracted image into a data structure representing height information. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33, 34)
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Specification