Optical Measurement Method and Apparatus for Fuel Cell Components
AssigneeBloom Energy Corporation
InventorsStephen Couse, Tulin Akin
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Methods and systems for measuring a property of a component of a fuel cell system include performing a three-dimensional optical scan of at least a portion of a surface of the component to produce a three-dimensional representation of the topography of the at least a portion of the surface and measuring at least one property of the component based on the three-dimensional representation. Further embodiments include systems and methods for measuring dimensions of a fuel cell component using a line scan imaging device and/or a matrix camera.
Claims27
A method for measuring a property of a component of a fuel cell system, comprising:
- performing a three-dimensional optical scan of at least a portion of a surface of the component to produce a three-dimensional representation of the topography of the at least a portion of the surface;
- and
- measuring at least one property of the component based on the three-dimensional representation.
A system for measuring a property of a component of a fuel cell system, comprising:
- an optical source for directing an optical radiation beam on a surface of a component of a fuel cell;
- a detector for detecting optical radiation reflected from the surface;
- and
- a controller, coupled to the source and detector, and comprising a memory and a processor coupled to the memory and configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations, comprising:
- operating the source and detector to perform a three-dimensional optical scan of at least a portion of a surface of the component to produce a three-dimensional representation of the topography of the at least a portion of the surface;
- and
- measuring at least one property of the component based on the three-dimensional representation.
A method of measuring a dimension of a component of a fuel cell system, comprising:
- obtaining at least one image of the component using at least one of a line scan imaging device and a matrix camera;
- and
- measuring a dimension of the component based on the at least one obtained image.
A system for measuring a dimension of a fuel cell component, comprising:
- an imaging device configured to obtain at least one image of the component;
- and
- a controller, coupled to the imaging device, and comprising a memory and a processor coupled to the memory and configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations, comprising:
- measuring a dimension of the component based on the at least one obtained image,
- wherein the imaging device comprises at least one of a line scan imaging device and a matrix camera.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.