# US 2014/0193064 A1 · Optical Measurement Method and Apparatus for Fuel Cell Components > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2014/0193064 A1 - Document ID: US20140193064A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 14/147,785 - Filed: 2014-01-06 - Published: 2014-07-10 - Earliest claimed: 2013-01-08 - Assignees: Bloom Energy Corporation - Applicants: Bloom Energy Corporation - Inventors: Stephen Couse; Tulin Akin - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20140193064A1 ## CPC - G01N 21/8851: {Scan or image signal processing specially adapted therefor, e.g. for scan signal adjustment, for detecting different kinds of defects, for compensating for structures, markings, edges (G01N21/8806 and G01N21/93 - G01N21/95692 take precedence; optical measurement of dimensions G01B11/00; optical scanning G02B26/10; image transformation G06T3/00; computerised image enhancement G06T5/00; image processing per se for flaw detection G06T7/0002)} - G01B 11/24: for measuring contours or curvatures - G06T 7/0006: {using a design-rule based approach} - G06T 2207/10028: Range image; Depth image; 3D point clouds - G01N: INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES (measuring or testing apparatus or processes other than immunoassay, involving enzymes or microorganisms C12M, C12Q) - G01B: MEASURING LENGTH, THICKNESS OR SIMILAR LINEAR DIMENSIONS; MEASURING ANGLES; MEASURING AREAS; MEASURING IRREGULARITIES OF SURFACES OR CONTOURS - G06T: IMAGE DATA PROCESSING OR GENERATION, IN GENERAL ## 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. ## Claims ### Claim 1 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. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one property comprises one or more of: an area or volume of a channel on a surface of the component, a presence or absence of a defect in the component, a thickness of the component, a curvature of the component, and a topography of the component. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the optical scan comprises an optical triangulation scan. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The method of claim 3, wherein the optical triangulation scan comprises a laser triangulation scan. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the three-dimensional scan is performed on two opposing surfaces of the component. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the component comprises an interconnect for a fuel cell stack. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the component comprises a fuel cell electrolyte. ### Claim 8 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, wherein the defect comprises one or more of a lateral crack, a missing rib, a hole and a void area. ### Claim 9 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, wherein the component comprises a coating over the surface of the component, and the defect comprises a coating defect. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, wherein the coating comprises at least one of a lanthanum strontium manganite (LSM) perovskite and a manganese cobalt oxide (MCO) spinel coating. ### Claim 11 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, wherein at least two properties of the component are measured based on the three-dimensional representation, wherein the at least two properties comprise two or more of: an area or volume of a channel on a surface of the component, a presence or absence of a defect in the component, a thickness of the component, a curvature of the component, and a topography of the component. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, wherein at least three properties of the component are measured based on the three-dimensional representation, wherein the at least three properties comprise three or more of: an area or volume of a channel on a surface of the component, a presence or absence of a defect in the component, a thickness of the component, a curvature of the component, and a topography of the component. ### Claim 13 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, wherein measuring a topography of the component comprises: measuring at least one of the thickness and curvature of the component based on the three-dimensional representation; generating a virtual flattened representation of the component based on the measured thickness and/or curvature; and measuring the topography based on the virtual flattened representation. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The method of claim 13, wherein measuring the topography comprises identifying localized high and low spots. ### Claim 15 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. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The system of claim 15, wherein the system is configured to perform a method comprising: performing the three-dimensional optical scan of at least the portion of the surface of the component to produce the three-dimensional representation of the topography of the at least the portion of the surface; and measuring at least one property of the component based on the three-dimensional representation. ### Claim 17 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. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The method of claim 17, further comprising: comparing the measured dimension to a reference dimension; and determining whether or not the component is defective based on the comparison. ### Claim 19 (depends on 17) The method of claim 17, further comprising: obtaining a first image of the component using a line scan imaging device; obtaining a second image of the component using a line scan imaging device, wherein the relative orientation between the line scan imaging device and the component is changed by 90° between the first image and the second image; and combining the first image and the second image and measuring the dimension based on the combined images. ### Claim 20 (depends on 19) The method of claim 19, wherein the relative orientation is changed by rotating the component relative to the line scan imaging device. ### Claim 21 (depends on 19) The method of claim 19, wherein the relative orientation is changed by moving the component relative to the line scan imaging device in a first direction while obtaining the first image and moving the component relative to the line scan imaging device in a second direction while obtaining the second image, wherein the second direction is perpendicular to the first direction. ### Claim 22 (depends on 17) The method of claim 17, wherein the at least one image of the component is obtained using a matrix camera. ### Claim 23 (depends on 17) The method of claim 17, wherein the dimension of the component comprises at least one of a size of a fuel hole, a location of a fuel hole, a length of the component and a width of the component. ### Claim 24 (depends on 17) The method of claim 17, wherein the component comprises an interconnect for a fuel cell stack. ### Claim 25 (depends on 17) The method of claim 17, wherein the component comprises a fuel cell electrolyte. ### Claim 26 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. ### Claim 27 (depends on 26) The system of claim 26, wherein the system is configured to perform a method comprising: obtaining at least one image of the component using at least one of the line scan imaging device and the matrix camera; measuring the dimension of the component based on the at least one obtained image; comparing the measured dimension to a reference dimension; and determining whether or not the component is defective based on the comparison.