Methods and systems for real-time, in-process measurement of automobile paints and transparent coatings

A system for measuring a thickness of a coating, the system comprising:

• a processor;
• a light source in communication with the processor, the light source configured to illuminate an automobile sample comprising a substrate and a coating with light waves of varying wavelengths;
• a detection module in communication with the processor comprising:
• a light collector configured to receive light waves reflected by the automobile sample;
• a grating configured to diffract the light waves into a plurality of component wavelengths;
• a detector array configured to detect light intensities of each of the plurality of component wavelengths;
• a memory in communication with the processor, wherein the memory comprises computer program code executable by the processor configured to:
• generate a reflected interference pattern spectral curve using the detected light intensities for each of the plurality of component wavelengths;
• calculate a thickness of the coating from a frequency of a combined reflected interference pattern spectral curve of the component wavelengths;
• display the calculated thickness of the coating in real-time.