Non-contact measurement of surface profile

Claim 1

The method of measuring surface profile comprising the steps of: scanning an object with an optical transmitter that projects onto the surface of said object a color illumination pattern comprised of at least two different wavelengths of light which have varying power ratios; sensing reflected light at a known parallax angle and separately detecting the different wavelengths which shift position on a detector array depending upon the depth from the object surface to a reference, and generating separate electrical sensor signals corresponding to the different wavelength detected light intensities; and processing said sensor signals to extract depth data from which the surface profile can be determined.

Claim 2

The method of measuring surface profile comprising the steps of: scanning an object with an optical transmitter that projects onto the surface of said object a color illumination pattern comprised of at least two different wavelengths of light which have varying power ratios; sensing reflected light at a known parallax angle and separately detecting the different wavelengths which shift position on a detector array depending upon the depth from the object surface to a reference, and generating separate electrical sensor signals corresponding to the different wavelength detected light intensities; and processing said sensor signals to extract depth data from which the surface profile can be determined.

Claim 4

The method of measuring surface profile comprising the steps of: scanning an object with an optical transmitter that projects onto the surface of said object a color illumination pattern comprised of at least two different wavelengths of light; wherein said color pattern is projected such that every wavelength power incident on said surface continuously varies; sensing reflected light at a known parallax angle and separately detecting the different wavelengths which shift position on a detector array depending upon the depth from the object surface to a reference, and generating separate electrical sensor signals corresponding to the different wavelength detected light intensities; and processing said sensor signals to extract depth data from which the surface profile can be determined.

Claim 5

The method of measuring surface profile comprising the steps of: scanning an object with an optical transmitter that projects onto the surface of said object a color illumination pattern comprised of at least two different wavelengths of light; wherein said color pattern is projected such that every wavelength power incident on said surface continuously varies; sensing reflected light at a known parallax angle and separately detecting the different wavelengths which shift position on a detector array depending upon the depth from the object surface to a reference, and generating separate electrical sensor signals corresponding to the different wavelength detected light intensities; and processing said sensor signals to extract depth data from which the surface profile can be determined.

Claim 6

The method of measuring surface profile comprising the steps of: scanning an object with an optical transmitter that projects onto the surface of said object a color illumination pattern comprised of at least two different wavelengths of light; wherein said color pattern is projected such that the relative amounts of every wavelength power incident on said surface continuously varies whereby the position of each point in the projected color pattern can be identified; sensing reflected light at a known parallax angle and separately detecting the different wavelengths which shift position on a detector array depending upon the depth from the object surface to a reference, and generating separate electrical sensor signals corresponding to the different wavelength detected light intensities; and processing said sensor signals to extract depth data from which the surface profile can be determined.

Claim 7

The method of measuring surface profile comprising the steps of: scanning an object with an optical transmitter that projects onto the surface of said object a color illumination pattern comprised of at least two different wavelengths of light; wherein said color pattern is projected such that the relative amounts of every wavelength power incident on said surface continuously varies whereby the position of each point in the projected color pattern can be identified; sensing reflected light at a known parallax angle and separately detecting the different wavelengths which shift position on a detector array depending upon the depth from the object surface to a reference, and generating separate electrical sensor signals corresponding to the different wavelength detected light intensities; and processing said sensor signals to extract depth data from which the surface profile can be determined.

Claim 10

The method of measuring surface profile comprising the steps of: scanning an object with an optical transmitter that projects onto the surface of said object a color illumination pattern comprised of at least two different wavelengths of light; sensing reflected light at a known parallax angle and separately detecting the different wavelengths which shift position on a detector array depending upon the depth from the object surface to a reference, and generating separate electrical sensor signals corresponding to the different wavelength detected light intensities; and processing said sensor signals to extract depth data from which the surface profile can be determined, including deriving a normalized signal which is substantially independent of surface reflectivity and roughness variations.

Claim 11

The method of measuring surface profile comprising the steps of: scanning an object with an optical transmitter that projects onto the surface of said object a color illumination pattern comprised of at least two different wavelengths of light; sensing reflected light at a known parallax angle and separately detecting the different wavelengths which shift position on a detector array depending upon the depth from the object surface to a reference, and generating separate electrical sensor signals corresponding to the different wavelength detected light intensities; and processing said sensor signals to extract depth data from which the surface profile can be determined, including deriving a normalized signal which is substantially independent of surface reflectivity and roughness variations.

Claim 12

The method of measuring surface profile comprising the steps of: scanning an object with an optical transmitter that projects onto the surface of said object a color illumination pattern comprised of at least two different wavelengths of light; sensing reflected light at a known parallax angle and separately detecting the different wavelengths which shift position on a detector array depending upon the depth from the object surface to a reference, and generating separate electrical sensor signals corresponding to the different wavelength detected light intensities; and processing said sensor signals to extract depth data from which the surface profile can be determined, including deriving a normalized signal which is substantially independent of surface reflectivity and roughness variations, and determining the phase shift between said normalized signal and a reference and obtaining said depth data from the phase shift.

Claim 13

The method of measuring surface profile comprising the steps of: scanning an object with an optical transmitter that projects onto the surface of said object a color illumination pattern comprised of at least two different wavelengths of light; sensing reflected light at a known parallax angle and separately detecting the different wavelengths which shift position on a detector array depending upon the depth from the object surface to a reference, and generating separate electrical sensor signals corresponding to the different wavelength detected light intensities; and processing said sensor signals to extract depth data from which the surface profile can be determined, including deriving a normalized signal which is substantially independent of surface reflectivity and roughness variations, and determining the phase shift between said normalized signal and a reference and obtaining said depth data from the phase shift.

Claim 15

The method of measuring surface profile comprising the steps of: projecting onto the surface of an object a color illumination pattern comprised of at least two different wavelengths bands of light that each have a continuous variation of power; sensing reflected light at a given parallax angle and extracting and separately detecting said wavelength bands which shift position depending upon the depth from the object surface to a reference, and generating separate electrical sensor signals corresponding to the detected light intensity of each wavelength band; scanning the surface of said object with the projected color pattern while generating said sensor signals; and processing said sensor signals to extract a normalized signal that is substantially independent of surface reflectivity and roughness variations, and processing said normalized signal to yield depth data from which the surface profile can be determined.

Claim 16

The method of measuring surface profile comprising the steps of: projecting onto the surface of an object a color illumination pattern comprised of at least two different wavelengths bands of light that each have a continuous variation of power; sensing reflected light at a given parallax angle and extracting and separately detecting said wavelength bands which shift position depending upon the depth from the object surface to a reference, and generating separate electrical sensor signals corresponding to the detected light intensity of each wavelength band; scanning the surface of said object with the projected color pattern while generating said sensor signals; and processing said sensor signals to extract a normalized signal that is substantially independent of surface reflectivity and roughness variations, and processing said normalized signal to yield depth data from which the surface profile can be determined.

Claim 19

The method of measuring surface profile comprising the steps of: scanning an object with an optical transmitter that projects onto the surface of said object a periodic complementary color pattern composed of two different wavelength bands of light that have a continuous variation of power ratios; sensing reflected light with an optical receiver at a given parallax angle and extracting and separately detecting said wavelength bands which shift position on a pair of linear detector arrays, one for each wavelength band, depending upon the depth from the object surface to a reference, and generating first and second electrical sensor signals each corresponding to the respective wavelength band detected light intensity; and processing said first and second sensor signals to derive a normalized signal which is substantially independent of surface reflectivity and roughness variations, and processing said normalized signal to yield depth data from which the surface profile can be determined.

Claim 20

The method of measuring surface profile comprising the steps of: scanning an object with an optical transmitter that projects onto the surface of said object a periodic complementary color pattern composed of two different wavelength bands of light that have a continuous variation of power ratios; sensing reflected light with an optical receiver at a given parallax angle and extracting and separately detecting said wavelength bands which shift position on a pair of linear detector arrays, one for each wavelength band, depending upon the depth from the object surface to a reference, and generating first and second electrical sensor signals each corresponding to the respective wavelength band detected light intensity; and processing said first and second sensor signals to derive a normalized signal which is substantially independent of surface reflectivity and roughness variations, and processing said normalized signal to yield depth data from which the surface profile can be determined.

Claim 24

A system for acquiring surface profile measurements comprising: an optical sensor for scanning the surface of an object; said sensor comprising an optical transmitter having a first optical system for supplying at least two wavelengths of light which are combined to project onto the surface of said object a color pattern in which every wavelength power varies; said sensor further comprising an optical receiver for sensing reflected light at a predetermined parallax angle and having a second optical system for extracting said wavelengths of light, and that includes a detector array on which said wavelengths shift position depending upon the depth from the surface to a reference, said detector array generating separate electrical sensor signals corresponding to the detected light intensity of each wavelength; and a signal processor for deriving from said sensor signals depth data from which the surfce profile can be mapped.

Claim 25

A system for acquiring surface profile measurements comprising: an optical sensor for scanning the surface of an object; said sensor comprising an optical transmitter having a first optical system for supplying at least two wavelengths of light which are combined to project onto the surface of said object a color pattern in which every wavelength power varies; said sensor further comprising an optical receiver for sensing reflected light at a predetermined parallax angle and having a second optical system for extracting said wavelengths of light, and that includes a detector array on which said wavelengths shift position depending upon the depth from the surface to a reference, said detector array generating separate electrical sensor signals corresponding to the detected light intensity of each wavelength; and a signal processor for deriving from said sensor signals depth data from which the surfce profile can be mapped.

Claim 28

A system for acquiring surface profile measurements comprising: an optical sensor for scanning the surface of an object; said sensor comprising an optical transmitter having a multispectral source of light, a first subsystem for extracting two approximately equal power wavelength bands from the emitted wavelengths of said light source, and a second subsystem for recombining said wavelength bands and for projecting onto the surface a periodic complementary color pattern; said sensor further comprising an optical receiver for sensing reflected light at a predetermined parallax angle and having a third subsystem for separating said wavelength bands and a pair of detector arrays on which said wavelength bands shift position depending upon the depth from the object surface to a reference, said detector arrays generating a pair of electrical sensor signals corresponding to the detected light intensities of the two wavelength bands; and a signal processor comprising color pattern decoupling circuitry for processing said sensor signals and extracting a normalized signal that is substantially independent of surface reflectivity and roughness variations, and means for processing said normalized signal to yield the phase shift between said normalized signal and a reference and hence depth data from which the surface profile can be mapped.

Claim 29

A system for acquiring surface profile measurements comprising: an optical sensor for scanning the surface of an object; said sensor comprising an optical transmitter having a multispectral source of light, a first subsystem for extracting two approximately equal power wavelength bands from the emitted wavelengths of said light source, and a second subsystem for recombining said wavelength bands and for projecting onto the surface a periodic complementary color pattern; said sensor further comprising an optical receiver for sensing reflected light at a predetermined parallax angle and having a third subsystem for separating said wavelength bands and a pair of detector arrays on which said wavelength bands shift position depending upon the depth from the object surface to a reference, said detector arrays generating a pair of electrical sensor signals corresponding to the detected light intensities of the two wavelength bands; and a signal processor comprising color pattern decoupling circuitry for processing said sensor signals and extracting a normalized signal that is substantially independent of surface reflectivity and roughness variations, and means for processing said normalized signal to yield the phase shift between said normalized signal and a reference and hence depth data from which the surface profile can be mapped.