SBIR Phase I: Advanced Computational Imaging System for 3D Surface Microgeometry and Reflectance Properties Measurement

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project can lead to a revolution in 3D microgeometry and reflectance properties measurement of object surfaces at the micron-scale. The proposed technology will significantly improve photorealistic rendering and enhance the workflow efficiency in physically-based rendering. This can impact a broad range of industries, including video games, product visualization, animation, visual effects, scientific rendering and virtual/augmented reality. The superior performance and greatly reduced cost will allow the same system to be used in the manufacturing industry, which requires high-resolution depth measurement. This technology will result in the broader adoption of non-contact 3D metrology and 3D machine vision for manufacturing quality control and defect inspection. The proposed project will develop a computational imaging system that allows for high-resolution 3D microgeometry and reflectance properties measurement of object surfaces. The current approaches for 3D surface measurement at the micron scale are based on sophisticated optical and mechanical components that are expensive and can be difficult to use, and most of these approaches cannot decouple the direct reflection and sub-surface scattering. The goal of this research program is to develop a combination of hardware and software that can measure 3D surface microgeometry and reflectance properties with micron-scale accuracy. The proposed technology is expected to achieve superior performance and greatly reduced cost.