Three-dimensional measuring system and method of measuring the shape of an object
First Claim
1. A three-dimensional measuring system for measuring a shape of an object, said three dimensional measuring system comprising:
- an optical mechanism for emitting a light that illuminates the object, and optically scanning the object;
an image pickup sensor for receiving light reflected from the object, said image pickup sensor having a plurality of light-receiving regions across which the reflected light traverses;
a scanning device for changing a direction in which said light illuminates said object;
an image pickup control device for driving said image pickup sensor to output information indicating an amount of the reflected light incident on each of said light-receiving regions over time;
a first arithmetic unit for determining a time when said reflected light traverses each of said light-receiving regions, each time being determined by implementing a barycentric calculation based on samples (x) of the information output by said image pickup sensor taken periodically over a prescribed period of time and an instant (i) at which each of said samples (x) is taken; and
a second arithmetic unit for determining a position on a surface of said object that corresponds to each of said light-receiving regions, each position being determined based on a relationship between the direction in which said light illuminates said object at the time when said reflected light traverses the light-receiving region and a direction in which said reflected light is incident on the light-receiving region.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A three-dimensional measuring system comprises an optical system for emitting a light and optically scanning an object, a measuring sensor having an image pickup surface consisting of a plurality of picture elements and adapted to receive the light reflected on the surface of the object, a galvanometer mirror for changing a direction in which the light irradiates the object, a system controller for driving the measuring sensor so as to allow the same to output information on the quantity of light incident on each of the picture elements, and a barycentric calculation circuit for finding an instant when the light traverses each of the picture elements. This instant is found by implementing a barycentric calculation on the basis of outputs of the measuring sensor taken for a prescribed period of time and an instant at which each of the outputs is taken. The measuring system further comprises a host computer for finding a position on the surface of the object corresponding to each of the picture elements. This position is found on the basis of a relationship between a direction in which the light irradiates the object at an instant when the light traverses each of the picture elements and a direction in which the light reflected on the surface of the object is incident on each of the picture elements.
55 Citations
15 Claims
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1. A three-dimensional measuring system for measuring a shape of an object, said three dimensional measuring system comprising:
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an optical mechanism for emitting a light that illuminates the object, and optically scanning the object; an image pickup sensor for receiving light reflected from the object, said image pickup sensor having a plurality of light-receiving regions across which the reflected light traverses; a scanning device for changing a direction in which said light illuminates said object; an image pickup control device for driving said image pickup sensor to output information indicating an amount of the reflected light incident on each of said light-receiving regions over time; a first arithmetic unit for determining a time when said reflected light traverses each of said light-receiving regions, each time being determined by implementing a barycentric calculation based on samples (x) of the information output by said image pickup sensor taken periodically over a prescribed period of time and an instant (i) at which each of said samples (x) is taken; and a second arithmetic unit for determining a position on a surface of said object that corresponds to each of said light-receiving regions, each position being determined based on a relationship between the direction in which said light illuminates said object at the time when said reflected light traverses the light-receiving region and a direction in which said reflected light is incident on the light-receiving region. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A three-dimensional measuring system for measuring a shape of an object, said three dimensional measuring system comprising:
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an optical mechanism for emitting a light that illuminates the object, and optically scanning the object; an image pickup sensor for receiving light reflected from the object, said image pickup sensor having an image pickup surface including a plurality of light-receiving regions across which the reflected light traverses; a scanning device for changing a direction in which said light illuminates said object; an image pickup control device for driving said image pickup sensor to output information indicating an amount of the reflected light incident on each of said light-receiving regions over time; a first arithmetic unit for determining a position on said image pickup surface on which a largest amount of reflected light from light illuminating said object in a specific direction is incident, said position being found by implementing a barycentric calculation based on samples (x) of the information output by said image pickup sensor and position coordinates (i) of reflected light incident on said light-receiving regions that falls within a predetermined vertical light-receiving range on the image pickup surface and with which said samples (x) correspond; and a second arithmetic unit for determining a position on a surface of said object that corresponds to each of said light-receiving regions, each position on the surface of said object being determined based on a relationship between said specific direction and a direction in which said reflected light is incident on said position determined by said first arithmetic unit. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6)
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7. A method of measuring a shape of an object, said method comprising:
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a projecting step of projecting a light onto the object and scanning the object with the light; a receiving step of receiving light reflected from the object with an image pickup sensor having a plurality of light-receiving regions across which the reflected light traverses according to the scanning of the object; a sampling step of periodically sampling information indicating an amount of the reflected light incident of on each of said light-receiving regions over time period; a storing step of storing into a memory the information which is periodically sampled over a predetermined time period for each of said light-receiving regions; a first determining step of determining a time when said reflected light traverses each of said light-receiving regions, each time being determined by implementing a barycentric calculation based on samples (x) of the information stored in the memory and an instant (i) at which each of said samples (x) is taken; and a second determining step of determining a position on a surface of said object that corresponds to each of said light-receiving regions, each position being determined based on a relationship between a direction in which said light illuminates said object at the time when said reflected light traverses the light-receiving region and a direction in which said reflected light is incident on the light-receiving region. - View Dependent Claims (8)
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9. A method of measuring a shape of an object, said method comprising:
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a projecting step of projecting a light onto the object and scanning the object with the light; a receiving step of receiving light reflected from the object with an image pickup sensor having an image pickup surface including a plurality of light-receiving regions across which the reflected light traverses according to the scanning of the object; a sampling step of periodically sampling information indicating an amount of the reflected light incident on each of said light-receiving regions over time period; a storing step of storing into a memory the information which is periodically sampled for each of said light-receiving regions; a first determining step of determining a position on said image pickup surface on which a largest amount of reflected light from light illuminating said object in a specific direction is incident, said position being found by implementing a barycentric calculation based on samples (x) of the information stored in the memory and position coordinates (i) of reflected light incident on said light-receiving regions that falls within a predetermined vertical light-receiving range on the image pickup surface and with which said samples (x) correspond; and a second determining step of determining a position on a surface of said object that corresponds to each of said light-receiving regions, each position on the surface of said object being determined based on a relationship between said specific direction and a direction in which said reflected light is incident on said position determined in said first determining step. - View Dependent Claims (10)
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11. A three-dimensional measuring apparatus for measuring a shape of an object, said three-dimensional measuring apparatus comprising:
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a scanner for emitting a light that illuminates the object, and scanning the object with the light; an image pickup sensor for receiving light reflected from the object, said image pick sensor having a plurality of light-receiving regions across which the reflected light traverses according to the scanning of the object; an image pickup controller for driving said image pickup sensor to sample information indicating an amount of the reflected light incident on each of said light-receiving regions at each of sampling instants over a scanning period; a first arithmetic unit for determining a time when said reflected light traverses each of said light-receiving regions, each time being determined by implementing a barycentric calculation based on samples (x) of the information output by said image pickup sensor taken at each of the sampling instants belonging to a prescribed period of time and an sampling instant (i) at which each of said samples (x) is taken; and an output unit for outputting information relating to said determined time for calculating a position on a surface of said object that corresponds to each light-receiving regions. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
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15. A three-dimensional measuring apparatus for measuring a shape of an object, said three-dimensional measuring apparatus comprising:
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a scanner for emitting a light that illuminates the object, and scanning the object with light; an image pickup sensor for receiving light reflected from the object, said image sensor having an image pickup surface including a plurality of light-receiving regions across which the reflected light traverses according to the scanning of the object; an image pickup controller for driving said image pickup sensor to sample information indicating an amount of the reflected light incident on each of said light-receiving regions at each of sampling instants over a scanning period; a first arithmetic unit for determining a position on said image pickup surface on which a largest amount of reflected light from light illuminating said object is incident for each of the sampling instants, each position being found by implementing a barycentric calculation based on samples (x) of the information output by said light-receiving regions belonging to said predetermined light-receiving range and position coordinates (i) of said light-receiving regions which takes said samples (x); and an output unit for outputting information relating to said determined position for calculating a position on the object surface.
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Specification