Non-contact optical measurement probe

Claim 1

A non-contact measurement system for accurately measuring a 3D location of a visible feature on a surface of a structure comprising: a) a centering microscope having a elongated body with an eyepiece end and a object end, a reticle visible through the eyepiece end, the centering microscope machined to have an optical axis passing substantially through the center of the elongated body for producing an image at the eyepiece of structures pointed at by the object end which are in focus at a focal point a distance D 0 from the object end; b) an orientation plate attached to the centering microscope in a fixed relative position and orientation (pose) having visible landmarks at predefined locations on the orientation plate; c) a light source positioned at a pose with respect to orientation plate for producing a light beam angled to intersect the optical axis at the focal point D 0 , and for producing a probe spot where it impinges on the surface of said object; d) a 3D measurement device for measuring the 3D location of the visible landmarks of the orientation plate; e) a calculation device being preset with the pose of the orientation plate and predefined location of the landmarks on orientation plate with reference to the centering microscope, coupled to the 3D measurement device, for receiving the measured 3D locations of the landmarks, and for calculating the 3D location of the focal point D 0 ; f) a measurement processing device coupled to the calculation device for receiving the 3D location of the focal point D 0 , and for utilizing this 3D location in a computer-generated representation of said structure.