Method and apparatus for electro optically determining the dimension, location and attitude of objects
AssigneeSensor Adaptive Machines, Inc.
InventorsTimothy R. Pryor, Bernard Hockley, Nick Liptay-Wagner, Omer L. Hageniers, W. J. Pastorius
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for optically determining the dimension of part surfaces. Particular embodiments describe optical triangulation based coordinate measurement machines capable of accurate measurement of complex surfaces, such as gear teeth and turbine blades. Other embodiments provide highly useful sensors for robot guidance and related purposes. Up to 5 axis sensing capability is provided on surfaces of widely varying form.
Claims25
A method for determining a dimension or attitude of an object, comprising projecting onto the surface of said object a zone of light,
- --forming an image of at least a portion of said zone on said surface onto a photo detector array with an optical system whose axis is spaced from the axis of said projection of light,
- --determining from the position of said image on said photodetector array the location of said surface illuminated by said zone,
- --determining from the location of said surface the attitude or dimension of said object.
Apparatus for determining the dimension or attitude of an object, comprising:
- means for projecting a zone of light onto the surface of said object;
- optical means for forming an image of at least a portion of said zone on said surface onto a photodetector array said optical means having an optical axis which is spaced from the axis of said projection of light;
- means for determining from the position of said image on said photodetector array the location of said surface illuminated by said zone;
- and
- means for determining from the location of said surface the dimension or attitude of said object.
Method for guiding robots and other transfer devices, comprising provision of an orientation code onto a part said code containing data concerning the orientation of features of said part relative to said code, optically scanning said code to determine said orientation of said part features and providing signals to said transfer device to transfer said part.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.