OPTICAL HIGH SPEED DIMENSIONAL INSPECTION

RESEARCHERS ARE PRESENTING A NEW CONCEPT IN DIMENSIONAL INSPECTION BASED ON A FAST 3-D IMAGING (F3DI). THE FAST 3-D IMAGER IS A CAMERA WHICH GENERATES 3-D IMAGES IN REAL-TIME, WITH ALMOST NO COMPUTATION REQUIRED. THE VALUE OF EACH PIXEL IN THE IMAGE REPRESENTS THE DISTANCE FROM THE CAMERA'S FOCAL POINT TO THE CORRESPONDING POINT IN THE SCENE. THIS TYPE OF IMAGE IS CALLED A RANGE IMAGE. THE CAMERA PRODUCES RANGE IMAGES AT NORMAL FRAME RATES OF 60 IMAGES PER SECOND. THE ACCURACY OF THE SYSTEM IS A FUNCTION OF THE CAMERA OPTICS, AND ACCURACIES ON THE ORDER OF .001 INCH OR BETTER ARE ACHIEVABLE. THE F3DI PRODUCES HIGH ACCURACY 3-D DATA IN REAL-TIME, AND CAN BE USED FOR IN-PROCESS CONTROL, SO THAT ERRORS IN THE PARTS AS MANUFACTURED CAN BE MEASURED IN REAL-TIME AND THE PROCESS CORRECTED. AN APPROACH TO USING THE F3DI CAMERA IN CONJUNCTION WITH A SIX AXIS MOTION STAGE TO IMPLEMENT A NEW GENERATION OF COORDINATE MEASURING MACHINE IS ALSO DESCRIBED.