For measuring the 3D shape of complex objects by optical methods the optical sensor or the object have to be moved into multiple, overlapping measuring positions so as to view the entire surface. The resulting point clouds taken from the different views then have to be merged into a common coordinate system to obtain the final complete 3D view. Here we propose concepts of 3D-measurement arrangements using structured-light illumination with a digital-light projection unit to obtain a full-body view within a self- calibrating measurement strategy, whereas the necessary merging of the single views takes place fully automatically and done without any marker on the object surface, objects features, other merging procedure or high accurate object/sensor handling system. On the basis of this strategy different mobile and stationary arrangements are proposed and realized. A first integration in an industrial process will be presented showing the power of this concept by measuring the complete 3D shape of automotive parts and design objects within volume of 1dm³ up to 1m³. The measurements with this system showed a coordinate measurement accuracy of up to 10^-5 of the field size.

Date Published: 23 October 2001
PDF: 11 pages
Proc. SPIE 4398, Optical Measurement Systems for Industrial Inspection II: Application in Industrial Design, (23 October 2001); doi: 10.1117/12.445571

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 4398:
Optical Measurement Systems for Industrial Inspection II: Application in Industrial Design
Wolfgang Osten; Werner P. O. Jueptner; Malgorzata Kujawinska, Editor(s)