Electro-optical system for gauging surface profile deviations using infrared radiation

An electro-optical gauging system for gauging the surface profile of a test object using radiation that is naturally emmitted from the test object, comprising:

• means for sensing the radiation emmitted from the test object:
• means for determining the intensity of the radiation received by said sensing means originating from the test object;
• means for forming an image, using the intensity of said received radiation, wherein the intensity varies across the image as a function of the distance between said sensing means and the test object;
• and
• means for correcting optically generated errors in the image of the test object.

A method of gauging the surface profile on a test object, using radiation that is naturally emitted from the test object, comprising the steps of:

• (A) detecting the radiation that is naturally emmitted from the test object;
• (B) determining the intensity of the detected radiation;
• (C) forming an image of the test object surface, using the intensity from step (B), wherein the radiation intensity varies across the image as a function of the surface profile;
• and
• (D) correcting optically generated errors in the image formed in step (C).

A method of gauging a surface on a test object using radiation naturally emitted from the test object, comprising the steps of:

• (A) attenuating radiation emitted from the test object;
• (B) sensing the intensity of the attenuated radiation;
• (C) producing an image of the test object surface that is defined by the intensity of the sensed radiation across the test object surface;
• and
• (D) correcting optically generated errors in said image to thereby produce a corrected image of the test object surface.