Integrated system for quickly and accurately imaging and modeling three-dimensional objects
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An apparatus for obtaining position information about surface points of a three dimensional object comprising:
- a diode pumped, frequency doubled solid state laser for generating a pulsed laser beam, with each pulse having an energy less than 0.2 μ
J and wherein the laser beam has an average power of not greater than 1 milliwatt;
a scanning mirror system for scanning the laser pulses over the object; and
monitoring means for automatically measuring the range to the object based on the time of flight of the laser pulses, said time measurement having a resolution of 20 psec or less, said monitoring means also measuring the angular position of the laser beam and with the range and angular position information being suitable for generating a three dimensional representation of the object.
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Abstract
An integrated system generates a model of a three-dimensional object. A scanning laser device scans the three-dimensional object and generates a point cloud. The points of the point cloud each indicate a location of a corresponding point on a surface of the object. A first model is generated, responsive to the point cloud, that generates a first model representing constituent geometric shapes of the object. A data file is generated, responsive to the first model, that can be inputted to a computer-aided design system.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. An apparatus for obtaining position information about surface points of a three dimensional object comprising:
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a diode pumped, frequency doubled solid state laser for generating a pulsed laser beam, with each pulse having an energy less than 0.2 μ
J and wherein the laser beam has an average power of not greater than 1 milliwatt;
a scanning mirror system for scanning the laser pulses over the object; and
monitoring means for automatically measuring the range to the object based on the time of flight of the laser pulses, said time measurement having a resolution of 20 psec or less, said monitoring means also measuring the angular position of the laser beam and with the range and angular position information being suitable for generating a three dimensional representation of the object. - View Dependent Claims (2, 4, 5)
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3. An apparatus for obtaining position information about surface points of a three dimensional object comprising:
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a diode pumped, frequency doubled solid state laser for generating a pulsed laser beam, with each pulse having an energy less than 0.2 μ
J and wherein the laser beam has an average power of not greater than 1 milliwatt;
a scanning mirror system for scanning the laser pulses over the object; and
monitoring means for automatically measuring the range to the object based on the time of flight of the laser pulses, said time measurement having a resolution of 30 psec or less, said monitoring means also measuring the angular position of the laser beam and with the range and angular position information being suitable for generating a three dimensional representation of the object and-wherein said monitoring means has a positional accuracy for each point in three dimensional space equal to or better than six millimeters at one standard deviation over a range of up to 100 meters.
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6. An apparatus for obtaining position information about surface points of a three dimensional object comprising:
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a diode pumped, frequency doubled solid state laser for generating a pulsed laser beam, with each pulse having an energy less than 0.2 μ
J and wherein the laser beam has an average power of not greater than 1 milliwatt;
a scanning mirror system for scanning the laser pulses over the object; and
monitoring means for automatically measuring the range to the object based on the time of flight of the laser pulses, said time measurement having a resolution of 30 psec or less, said monitoring means also measuring the angular position of the laser beam and with the range and angular position information being suitable for generating a three dimensional representation of the object and where the object is provided with retro reflectors and wherein the range of operation is up to one mile.
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7. An apparatus for obtaining position information about surface points of a three dimensional object comprising:
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a diode pumped, frequency doubled solid state laser for generating a pulsed laser beam, with each pulse having an energy less than 0.2 μ
J and wherein the laser beam has an average power of not greater than 1 milliwatt;
a scanning mirror system for scanning the laser pulses over the object; and
monitoring means for automatically measuring the range to the object based on the time of flight of the laser pulses, said time measurement having a resolution of 30 psec or less, said monitoring means also measuring the angular position of the laser beam and with the range and angular position information being suitable for generating a three dimensional representation of the object, said apparatus further including a processor for generating a point cloud based upon the range and angular position information, the point cloud comprising a plurality of data points that each represents a location of a corresponding point on the surface of the object.
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8. An apparatus for obtaining position information about surface points of a three dimensional object comprising:
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a diode pumped, frequency doubled solid state laser for generating a pulsed laser beam, with each pulse having an energy less than 0.2 μ
J and wherein the laser beam has an average power of not greater than 1 milliwatt;
a scanning mirror system for scanning the laser pulses over the object; and
monitoring means for automatically measuring the range to the object based on the time of flight of the laser pulses, said time measurement having a resolution of 30 psec or less, said monitoring means also measuring the angular position of the laser beam and with the range and angular position information being suitable for generating a three dimensional representation of the object, said apparatus further including a processor means for rendering a model of the object which includes the range and position information generated by the modeling means.
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9. An apparatus for obtaining position information about surface points of a three dimensional object comprising:
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a laser for generating a pulsed laser beam;
means for scanning the laser pulses over the object; and
monitoring means for automatically measuring the range to the object based on the time of flight of pulses, said time measurement having a resolution of 30 psec or less, said monitoring means also measuring the angular position of the laser beam, said monitoring means having a positional accuracy for each point in three dimensional space equal to or better than six millimeters at one standard deviation over a range of up to 100 meters. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification