Rotational axis determination from photogrammetric data

Abstract

An apparatus and method for computing the average axis of rotation for a rotational device utilizes photogrammetric data derived from a rotational device in conjunction with an iterative algorithm to determine the average axis of rotation within a desired resolution. The input photogrammetric data is determined by photogrammetry. In particular, a target plate including a plurality of targets is installed on each rotational axis, the targets are photogrammetrically measured at an initial rotational position, the target plate is rotated to a different position and the targets are photogrammetrically measured at the new position. As the measurement process is repeated for different positions, the present invention transforms each set of photogrammetric measurements from each rotational position into a common coordinate system to generate photogrammetric data points and inputs each set of data points from each rotational position into the algorithm to determine the average axis of rotation of the device within a desired resolution. The algorithm, via an iterative process, calculates the average axis of rotation from the input photogrammetric data by assigning each photogrammetric data point a unique identification, determining vectors based upon data points positioned approximately 180 degrees apart and determining the average axis of rotation by the resulting vectors' rotation about the drive axis.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.