Camera theodolite system
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A three-dimensional coordinate measuring system, comprising:
- a) first and second towers;
b) first and second camera assemblies mounted on said first and second towers, respectively;
c) a first pair of reference targets mounted to said first tower such that said reference targets of said first pair are a known distance apart, and a second pair of reference targets mounted to said second tower such that said reference targets of said second pair are a known distance apart;
d) a tilt sensor mounted on each of said first and second towers operative to measure the angle of each of said first and second towers with vertical; and
e) a host computer coupled to each of said camera assemblies and to said tilt sensors operative to receive automatically measurements from selected targets, from each pair of said reference targets and a tower angle to vertical measurements from each of said tilt sensors, said host computer being programmed to perform photogrammetric algorithms so as to compute the coordinates of unknown points.
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Abstract
A three-dimensional coordinate measuring system which includes first and second towers, first and second viewing devices mounted on the first and second towers, respectively, and a pair of targets mounted on each of the first and second towers a known distance apart. A tilt sensor is mounted on each of the first and second towers to measure the angle of each of the first and second towers with vertical and a host computer is coupled to each of the viewing devices and is programmed to perform photogrammetric algorithms so as to compute the coordinates of unknown points.
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Citations
29 Claims
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1. A three-dimensional coordinate measuring system, comprising:
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a) first and second towers;
b) first and second camera assemblies mounted on said first and second towers, respectively;
c) a first pair of reference targets mounted to said first tower such that said reference targets of said first pair are a known distance apart, and a second pair of reference targets mounted to said second tower such that said reference targets of said second pair are a known distance apart;
d) a tilt sensor mounted on each of said first and second towers operative to measure the angle of each of said first and second towers with vertical; and
e) a host computer coupled to each of said camera assemblies and to said tilt sensors operative to receive automatically measurements from selected targets, from each pair of said reference targets and a tower angle to vertical measurements from each of said tilt sensors, said host computer being programmed to perform photogrammetric algorithms so as to compute the coordinates of unknown points. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 27)
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11. A three-dimensional coordinate measuring system, comprising:
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a) first and second towers;
b) a pair of CCD cameras mounted on said first and second towers, respectively, in a fixed relationship with each other;
c) a first pair of reference targets mounted to said first tower such that said reference targets of said first pair are a known distance apart, a second pair of reference targets mounted to said second tower such that said reference targets of said second pair are a known distance apart and a pair of said reference targets on one of said first and second towers is visible to one of the said pair of CCD cameras on the other of said first and second towers;
d) a tilt sensor mounted on each of said first and second towers operative to measure the angle of each of said first and second towers with respect to vertical; and
e) an interface circuit mounted on each of said first and second towers, each interface circuit coupled to the CCD cameras and the tilt sensor mounted on an associated one of said first and second towers;
f) a host computer coupled to said interface circuits, said host computer operative to receive automatically measurements from selected targets, from each pair of said reference targets and a tower angle to vertical measurements from each of said tilt sensors, said host computer being programmed to perform photogrammetric algorithms so as to compute the coordinates of unknown points. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A three-dimensional coordinate measuring system, comprising:
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a) first and second towers;
b) a CCD camera and a beam splitter mounted on each of said first and second towers, respectively, in a fixed relationship with each other;
c) a first pair of reference targets mounted to said first tower such that said reference targets of said first pair are a known distance apart, a second pair of reference targets mounted to said second tower such that said reference targets of said second pair are a known distance apart and a pair of reference targets on one of said first and second towers is visible to said CCD camera on the other of said first and second towers;
d) a tilt sensor mounted on each of said first and second towers operable to measure the angle of each of said first and second towers with vertical; and
e) an interface circuit mounted on each of said first and second towers, each interface circuit coupled to a CCD camera and a tilt sensor mounted on an associated one of said first and second towers;
f) a host computer coupled to said interface circuits, said host computer programmed to perform photogrammetric algorithms so as to compute the coordinates of unknown points. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A method of measuring the three-dimensional coordinates of an object in space, comprising:
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a) positioning a first and second towers, each of said towers having a camera assembly, wherein a first pair of reference targets are mounted to said first tower such that said targets of said first pair are a known distance apart and a second pair of reference targets are mounted to said second tower such that said targets of said second pair are a known distance apart such that said camera assembly on each of said towers views the reference targets on the other of said towers and the object;
b) digitizing the image received on each camera assembly;
c) transferring at least a portion of said image to a host computer; and
d) performing a triangulation calculation on the two camera assemblies to determine the three-dimensional coordinates of the object. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, 29)
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Specification