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Optical instrument and method for obtaining distance and image information

  • US 8,368,875 B2
  • Filed: 07/22/2009
  • Issued: 02/05/2013
  • Est. Priority Date: 01/26/2007
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. An optical instrument for obtaining distance and image information of an object, comprising:

  • a lens arrangement for sighting the object;

    a camera aligned with the optical axis of the lens arrangement for acquiring an image of at least part of the object;

    a distance measuring unit for measuring a distance to the object along a measurement axis of the distance measuring unit parallel to the optical axis of the lens arrangement;

    a positioning unit for adjusting the optical axis of the lens arrangement relative to at least one reference axis; and

    a control unit comprising;

    a first control element adapted to define in the image an area to be scanned, to obtain an object feature of the object in the defined area and to define in the area a plurality of measurement pixels corresponding to a plurality of positions on the object with an increased density of measurement pixels at the object feature compared to other parts of the object; and

    a second control element adapted to instruct the positioning unit to adjust the optical axis of the lens arrangement sequentially onto the plurality of positions on the object and to instruct the distance measuring unit to measure the distances to the object at the plurality of positions,wherein the first control element is adapted to define the area to be scanned by an operator for selecting the area in the image or by processing the image using a detection algorithm for detecting the at least part of the object, andwherein the first control element is adapted to define in the area to be scanned a region with a high measurement pixel density being a region with large variations in structure, a region with a low measurement pixel density being a region with small variations in structure, and a region without measurement pixels.

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