Apparatus and method for remote optical caliper measurement
AssigneeAW Solutions, Inc.
InventorsKeith William Hayter, Emmanuel Poulin, Robert William Baltar
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An apparatus and method for performing optical caliper measurements remotely, including an unmanned aerial vehicle, a camera attached to the unmanned aerial vehicle, and an optical caliper measurement tool attached to the unmanned aerial vehicle, where the optical caliper measurement tool includes a mount, a laser source attached to the mount, and a beam splitter attached to the mount, where the laser source is configured to direct a laser beam through the beam splitter to split the laser beam into two parallel laser beams separated by a fixed distance.
Claims17
An apparatus for performing optical caliper measurements remotely, comprising:
- an unmanned aerial vehicle;
- a camera attached to the unmanned aerial vehicle;
- and
- an optical caliper measurement tool attached to the unmanned aerial vehicle;
- wherein the optical caliper measurement tool comprises:
- a mount;
- a laser source attached to the mount for producing a first laser beam having an axis;
- and
- a unitary beam splitter attached to the mount and disposed in front of the laser source to split the first laser beam from the laser source into a second laser beam and a third laser beam, wherein the second laser beam is emitted on the axis of the first laser beam and the third laser beam has an axis that is different from and parallel to the axis of the first laser beam, such that the second and third laser beams are separated by a fixed distance, wherein the unitary beam splitter is rotatable with respect to the mount;
- wherein the camera k pointed in a same direction as the axes of the second and third laser beams, such that the camera k configured to capture an image in which the second and third laser beams are projected onto a structure to create an optically recognizable caliper measurement on the structure.
A method for performing optical caliper measurements remotely, comprising:
- attaching an optical caliper measurement tool to an unmanned aerial vehicle including a camera;
- and
- performing an optical caliper measurement by the optical caliper measurement tool;
- wherein the optical caliper measurement tool comprises:
- a mount;
- a laser source attached to the mount for producing a first laser beam having an axis;
- and
- a unitary beam splitter attached to the mount and disposed in front of the laser source to split the first laser beam from the laser source into a second laser beam and a third laser beam, wherein the second laser beam is emitted on the axis of the first laser beam and the third laser beam has an axis that is different from and parallel to the axis of the first laser beam, such that the second and third laser beams are separated by a fixed distance, wherein the unitary beam splitter is rotatable with respect to the mount;
- wherein the camera is pointed in a same direction as the axes of the second and third laser beams, such that the camera is configured to capture an image in which the second and third laser beams are projected onto a structure to create an optically recognizable caliper measurement on the structure.
An apparatus for performing optical caliper measurements remotely, comprising:
- an unmanned aerial vehicle;
- a camera attached to the unmanned aerial vehicle;
- and
- an optical caliper measurement tool attached to the unmanned aerial vehicle, the optical caliper measurement comprising:
- a mount;
- a laser source attached to the mount for producing a first laser beam having an axis;
- and
- a unitary lateral displacement beam splitter attached to the mount and disposed in front of the laser source to split the first laser beam from the laser source into a second laser beam and a third laser beam, wherein the second laser beam is emitted on the axis of the first laser beam and the third laser beam has an axis that is different from and parallel to the axis of the first laser beam, such that the second and third laser beams are separated by a fixed distance, wherein the unitary lateral displacement beam splitter is rotatable with respect to the mount,
- wherein the camera is pointed in a same direction as the axes of the second and third laser beams, such that the camera is configured to capture an image in which the second and third laser beams are projected onto a structure to create an optically recognizable caliper measurement on the structure.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.