# US 7,411,688 B1 · Method and system for laser intensity calibration in a three-dimensional multi-color laser scanning system

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- Number: US 7,411,688 B1
- Document ID: US7411688B1
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B1
- Application number: 11/384,082
- Filed: 2006-03-17
- Granted: 2008-08-12
- Earliest claimed: 2006-03-17
- Assignees: Arius3D Inc.
- Inventors: Yongjian Zhai; Daniel James Arnold; John D. Bell; Tina Malik
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US7411688B1

## CPC

- G01B 11/2504: {Calibration devices}
- G01B 11/2509: {Color coding}
- G01B: MEASURING LENGTH, THICKNESS OR SIMILAR LINEAR DIMENSIONS; MEASURING ANGLES; MEASURING AREAS; MEASURING IRREGULARITIES OF SURFACES OR CONTOURS

## Abstract

According to an embodiment, a method and system for color calibration in a three-dimensional multi-color laser scanning system is disclosed. An object may be scanned with the scanning system, which scans the object with color laser heads. Laser intensities, corresponding to laser intensity values, may be received from the scanned object. Three different calibration targets are used to setup a field of view (FOV) calibration profile due to scanning position changes, a surface normal calibration profile due to surface normal direction changes, and a color reflectance calibration profile due to color reflectance changes. After compensating for laser power drift fluctuations, the laser intensity values may be further compensated for field of view scanning position changes and surface normal direction changes using the field of view calibration profile and surface normal calibration profile. Color values of each point scanned from the object may be calculated using compensated laser intensity values from the color reflectance profile.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method for color calibration in a three-dimensional multi-color laser scanning system, comprising:
a. creating a field of view (FOV) calibration look up table file, further comprising the steps of:
scanning a FOV calibration target so that a full range of FOV of the system is covered, wherein the FOV calibration target is a white, flat bar coated with spectrolon paint;
applying a laser power drift compensation to a first set of output laser intensity values from red, green and blue laser heads of the scanning system; and
applying a reverse sampling algorithm to the first set of output laser intensity values to create a FOV indexed lookup table for each of the red, green and blue lasers;
b. creating a laser intensity-color reflectance calibration profile, further comprising the steps of:
scanning a color reflectance calibration target, wherein the color reflectance calibration target is a flat sheet, grayscale chart;
applying a laser power drift compensation to a second set of output laser intensity values from red, green and blue laser heads of the scanning system;
applying a FOV compensation to the second set of output laser intensity values;
sub-sampling the second set of output laser intensity values from each of a plurality of stripes in the grayscale chart from the center of each grayscale stripe;
averaging the sub-sampled second set of output laser intensity values from each grayscale stripe; and
applying a polynomial least-square-fit algorithm to the averaged second set of output laser intensity values for each color laser to obtain laser intensity-color reflectance calibration profiles for each of the red, green and blue laser heads;
c. creating a laser intensity-surface normal calibration profile, further comprising the steps of:
scanning a surface normal calibration target, wherein the surface normal calibration target is a white sphere coated with barium sulphite;
applying a laser power drift compensation to a third set of output laser intensity values from red, green and blue laser heads of the scanning system;
applying a FOV compensation to the third set of output laser intensity values;
sampling the third set of output laser intensity values at 0.5 degree steps in a 0-90 degree reflection angle range of the surface normal calibration target;
averaging the third set of output laser intensity values from each sampled range to generate a representative laser intensity response to the surface normal direction changes for each laser color; and
applying a polynomial least-square-fit algorithm to the averaged third set of output laser intensity values to obtain laser intensity-surface normal calibration profiles for each of the red, green and blue laser heads; and
d. calculating intrinsic color values from laser intensities, further comprising the steps of:
scanning an object;
applying a laser power drift compensation to a fourth set of output laser intensity values from red, green and blue laser heads of the scanning system;
applying a FOV compensation to the fourth set of output laser intensity values;
applying a surface normal compensation to the fourth set of output laser intensity values for each of the laser colors;
mapping the fourth set of output laser intensity values obtained from the surface normal compensation to the laser intensity-color reflectance calibration profile to obtain an object's intrinsic color reflectance value for each laser head; and
calculating the color value expressed in RGB color space from the red, green and blue intrinsic color reflectance values.

### Claim 2

A method for color calibration in a three-dimensional multi-color laser scanning system, comprising:
creating a field of view (FOV) calibration look up table file, wherein a laser power drift compensation is applied to a first set of output laser intensity values from color laser heads of the scanning system;
creating a laser intensity-color reflectance calibration profile, wherein a laser power drift compensation is applied to a second set of output laser intensity values from color laser heads of the scanning system, and a FOV compensation is applied to the second set of output laser intensity values using the FOV calibration look up table file;
creating a laser intensity-surface normal calibration profile, wherein a laser power drift compensation is applied to a third set of output laser intensity values from color laser heads of the scanning system, and a FOV compensation is applied to the third set of output laser intensity values using the FOV calibration look up table file; and
calculating intrinsic color values from a fourth set of output laser intensity values, wherein a laser power drift compensation is applied to the fourth set of output laser intensity values from color laser heads of the scanning system, a FOV compensation is applied to the fourth set of output laser intensity values using the FOV calibration look up table file, and a surface normal compensation is applied to the fourth set of output laser intensity values using the laser intensity-surface normal calibration profile.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The method of claim 2, wherein the laser power drift compensation is achieved by using a linear regression fit analysis.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The method of claim 3, wherein the FOV compensation comprises the steps of:
obtaining laser intensity values from the FOV calibration lookup table for given scanning positions;
obtaining a linear regression fit equation by using the laser intensity values from the FOV calibration lookup table and the highest average intensity value from the FOV calibration target; and
determining FOV compensated laser intensity values by applying the linear regression fit equation to the output laser intensity values.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The method of claim 4, wherein the surface normal compensation comprises the steps of:
calculating a corresponding reflection angle for an output laser intensity value scanned at a given scanning position; and
mapping the calculated reflection angle to the laser intensity-surface normal calibration profile to obtain a surface normal compensated laser intensity value.

### Claim 6 (depends on 5)

The method of claim 5, wherein the first set of output laser intensity values correspond to a first set of laser intensities received from a scanned FOV calibration target.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The method of claim 6, wherein the FOV calibration target is a white, flat bar coated with spectrolon paint.

### Claim 8 (depends on 5)

The method of claim 5, wherein the second set of output laser intensity values correspond to a second set of laser intensities received from a scanned color reflectance calibration target.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

The method of claim 8, wherein the color reflectance calibration target is a flat sheet, grayscale chart.

### Claim 10 (depends on 5)

The method of claim 5, wherein the third set of output laser intensity values correspond to a third set of laser intensities received from a scanned surface normal calibration target.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

The method of claim 10, wherein the surface normal calibration target is a white sphere coated with barium sulphite.

### Claim 12 (depends on 5)

The method of claim 5, wherein the fourth set of output laser intensity values correspond to a fourth set of laser intensities received from a scanned object.

### Claim 13

A method for color calibration in a three-dimensional multi-color laser scanning system, comprising
scanning an object with the scanning system, wherein the scanning system scans the object with color laser heads;
receiving laser intensities from the scanned object, wherein the received laser intensities correspond to laser intensity values;
calibrating the laser intensity values to compensate for at least one of:
laser power drift fluctuations affecting the received laser intensities,
FOV scanning position changes affecting the received laser intensities, and
surface normal directions affecting the received laser intensities; and
calculating one or more color values of the scanned object using the calibrated laser intensity values;
wherein the step of calibrating laser intensity values to compensate for laser power drift fluctuations, comprises applying a laser power drift compensation to the laser intensity values, wherein the laser power drift compensation is achieved by using a linear regression fit analysis; and
wherein the step of calibrating the laser intensity values to compensate for FOV scanning position changes, comprises applying a FOV compensation to the laser intensity values, further comprising the steps of:
obtaining laser intensity values from a FOV calibration lookup table for given scanning positions;
obtaining a linear regression fit equation by using the laser intensity values from the FOV calibration lookup table and the highest average intensity value from the FOV calibration target; and
determining FOV compensated laser intensity values by applying the linear regression fit equation to the laser intensity values.

### Claim 14 (depends on 13)

The method of claim 13, wherein the FOV calibration look up table is created by the steps comprising:
scanning a FOV calibration target so that a full range of FOV of the scanning system is covered;
applying a laser power drift compensation to a set of output laser intensity values from the color laser heads of the scanning system; and
applying a reverse sampling algorithm to the set of output laser intensity values to create a FOV indexed lookup table for each of the color lasers.

### Claim 15 (depends on 13)

The method of claim 13, wherein the step of calibrating the laser intensity values to compensate for surface normal directions, comprises:
applying a surface normal compensation to the laser intensity values, further comprising the steps of:
calculating a corresponding reflection angle for a laser intensity value scanned at a given scanning position; and
mapping the calculated reflection angle to a laser intensity-surface normal calibration profile to obtain a surface normal compensated laser intensity value.

### Claim 16 (depends on 15)

The method of claim 15, wherein the laser intensity-surface normal calibration profile is created by the steps comprising:
scanning a surface normal calibration target;
applying a laser power drift compensation to a set of output laser intensity values from the color laser heads of the scanning system;
applying a FOV compensation to the set of output laser intensity values;
sampling the set of output laser intensity values at 0.5 degree steps in a 0-90 degree reflection angle range of the surface normal calibration target;
averaging the set of output laser intensity values from each sampled range to generate a representative laser intensity response to the surface normal direction changes for each laser color; and
applying a polynomial least-square-fit algorithm to the averaged set of output laser intensity values to obtain laser intensity-surface normal calibration profiles for each of the color laser heads.

### Claim 17 (depends on 15)

The method of claim 15, wherein the step of calculating one or more color values, comprises:
mapping the laser intensity values obtained from the surface normal compensation to a laser intensity-color reflectance calibration profile to obtain the scanned object's intrinsic color reflectance value for each laser head; and
calculating the color value expressed in RGB color space from red, green and blue intrinsic color reflectance values.

### Claim 18 (depends on 17)

The method of claim 17, wherein the laser intensity-color reflectance profile is created by the steps comprising:
scanning a color reflectance calibration target, wherein the color reflectance calibration target is a flat sheet, grayscale chart;
applying a laser power drift compensation to a set of output laser intensity values from the color laser heads of the scanning system;
applying a FOV compensation to the set of output laser intensity values;
sub-sampling the set of output laser intensity values from each of a plurality of stripes in the grayscale chart from the center of each grayscale stripe;
averaging the sub-sampled second set of output laser intensity values from each grayscale stripe; and
applying a polynomial least-square-fit algorithm to the averaged second set of output laser intensity values for each color laser to obtain laser intensity-color reflectance calibration profiles for each of the color laser heads.

### Claim 19

A computer readable medium encoded with a plurality of processor-executable instructions for implementing a computerized method for color calibration in a three-dimensional multi-color laser scanning system, the instructions comprising the steps of:
scanning an object with the scanning system, wherein the scanning system scans the object with color laser heads;
receiving laser intensities from the scanned object, wherein the received laser intensities correspond to laser intensity values;
calibrating the laser intensity values to compensate for at least one of:
laser power drift fluctuations affecting the received laser intensities,
FOV scanning position changes affecting the received laser intensities, and
surface normal directions affecting the received laser intensities; and
calculating one or more color values of the scanned object using the calibrated laser intensity values;
wherein the step of calibrating laser intensity values to compensate for laser power drift fluctuations, comprises applying a laser power drift compensation to the laser intensity values, wherein the laser power drift compensation is achieved by using a linear regression fit analysis;
wherein the step of calibrating the laser intensity values to compensate for FOV scanning position changes, comprises applying a FOV compensation to the laser intensity values, further comprising the steps of:
obtaining laser intensity values from a FOV calibration lookup table for given scanning positions;
obtaining a linear regression fit equation by using the laser intensity values from the FOV calibration lookup table and the highest average intensity value from the FOV calibration target; and
determining FOV compensated laser intensity values by applying the linear regression fit equation to the laser intensity values.

### Claim 20 (depends on 19)

The computer readable medium of claim 19, wherein the FOV calibration look up table is created by the steps comprising:
scanning a FOV calibration target so that a full range of FOV of the scanning system is covered;
applying a laser power drift compensation to a set of output laser intensity values from the color laser heads of the scanning system; and
applying a reverse sampling algorithm to the set of output laser intensity values to create a FOV indexed lookup table for each of the color lasers.

### Claim 21 (depends on 20)

The computer readable medium of claim 20, wherein the step of calibrating the laser intensity values to compensate for surface normal directions, comprises:
applying a surface normal compensation to the laser intensity values, further comprising the steps of:
calculating a corresponding reflection angle for a laser intensity value scanned at a given scanning position; and
mapping the calculated reflection angle to a laser intensity-surface normal calibration profile to obtain a surface normal compensated laser intensity value.

### Claim 22 (depends on 21)

The computer readable medium of claim 21, wherein the laser intensity-surface normal calibration profile is created by the steps comprising:
scanning a surface normal calibration target;
applying a laser power drift compensation to a set of output laser intensity values from the color laser heads of the scanning system;
applying a FOV compensation to the set of output laser intensity values;
sampling the set of output laser intensity values at 0.5 degree steps in a 0-90 degree reflection angle range of the surface normal calibration target;
averaging the set of output laser intensity values from each sampled range to generate a representative laser intensity response to the surface normal direction changes for each laser color; and
applying a polynomial least-square-fit algorithm to the averaged set of output laser intensity values to obtain laser intensity-surface normal calibration profiles for each of the color laser heads.

### Claim 23 (depends on 21)

The computer readable medium of claim 21, wherein the step of calculating one or more color values, comprises:
mapping the laser intensity values obtained from the surface normal compensation to a laser intensity-color reflectance calibration profile to obtain the scanned object's intrinsic color reflectance value for each laser head; and
calculating the color value expressed in RGB color space from red, green and blue intrinsic color reflectance values.

### Claim 24 (depends on 23)

The computer readable medium of claim 23, wherein the laser intensity-color reflectance profile is created by the steps comprising:
scanning a color reflectance calibration target, wherein the color reflectance calibration target is a flat sheet, grayscale chart;
applying a laser power drift compensation to a set of output laser intensity values from the color laser heads of the scanning system;
applying a FOV compensation to the set of output laser intensity values;
sub-sampling the set of output laser intensity values from each of a plurality of stripes in the grayscale chart from the center of each grayscale stripe;
averaging the sub-sampled second set of output laser intensity values from each grayscale stripe; and
applying a polynomial least-square-fit algorithm to the averaged second set of output laser intensity values for each color laser to obtain laser intensity-color reflectance calibration profiles for each of the color laser heads.

### Claim 25

A system for color calibration in a three-dimensional multi-color laser scanning system, comprising:
a scanning system; and
a computer system, in communication with the scanning system, programmed to implement a method for color calibration in the scanning system, comprising:
a memory for storing instructions; and
a processor in communication with the memory, the processor operative to utilize the instructions stored in the memory for executing the method, comprised of the steps:
scanning an object with the scanning system, wherein the scanning system scans the object with color laser heads;
receiving laser intensities from the scanned object, wherein the received laser intensities correspond to laser intensity values;
calibrating the laser intensity values to compensate for at least one of:
laser power drift fluctuations affecting the received laser intensities,
FOV scanning position changes affecting the received laser intensities, and
surface normal directions affecting the received laser intensities; and
calculating one or more color values of the scanned object using the calibrated laser intensity values;
wherein the step of calibrating laser intensity values to compensate for laser power drift fluctuations, comprises applying a laser power drift compensation to the laser intensity values, wherein the laser power drift compensation is achieved by using a linear regression fit analysis;
wherein the step of calibrating the laser intensity values to compensate for FOV scanning position changes, comprises applying a FOV compensation to the laser intensity values, further comprising the steps of:
obtaining laser intensity values from a FOV calibration lookup table for given scanning positions;
obtaining a linear regression fit equation by using the laser intensity values from the FOV calibration lookup table and the highest average intensity value from the FOV calibration target; and
determining FOV compensated laser intensity values by applying the linear regression fit equation to the laser intensity values.

### Claim 26 (depends on 25)

The system of claim 25, wherein the FOV calibration look up table is created by the steps comprising:
scanning a FOV calibration target so that a full range of FOV of the scanning system is covered;
applying a laser power drift compensation to a set of output laser intensity values from the color laser heads of the scanning system; and
applying a reverse sampling algorithm to the set of output laser intensity values to create a FOV indexed lookup table for each of the color lasers.

### Claim 27 (depends on 25)

The system of claim 25, wherein the step of calibrating the laser intensity values to compensate for surface normal directions, comprises:
applying a surface normal compensation to the laser intensity values, further comprising the steps of:
calculating a corresponding reflection angle for a laser intensity value scanned at a given scanning position; and
mapping the calculated reflection angle to a laser intensity-surface normal calibration profile to obtain a surface normal compensated laser intensity value.

### Claim 28 (depends on 27)

The system of claim 27, wherein the laser intensity-surface normal calibration profile is created by the steps comprising:
scanning a surface normal calibration target;
applying a laser power drift compensation to a set of output laser intensity values from the color laser heads of the scanning system;
applying a FOV compensation to the set of output laser intensity values;
sampling the set of output laser intensity values at 0.5 degree steps in a 0-90 degree reflection angle range of the surface normal calibration target;
averaging the set of output laser intensity values from each sampled range to generate a representative laser intensity response to the surface normal direction changes for each laser color; and
applying a polynomial least-square-fit algorithm to the averaged set of output laser intensity values to obtain laser intensity-surface normal calibration profiles for each of the color laser heads.

### Claim 29 (depends on 27)

The system of claim 27, wherein the step of calculating one or more color values, comprises:
mapping the laser intensity values obtained from the surface normal compensation to a laser intensity-color reflectance calibration profile to obtain the scanned object's intrinsic color reflectance value for each laser head; and
calculating the color value expressed in RGB color space from red, green and blue intrinsic color reflectance values.

### Claim 30 (depends on 29)

The system of claim 29, wherein the laser intensity-color reflectance profile is created by the steps comprising:
scanning a color reflectance calibration target, wherein the color reflectance calibration target is a flat sheet, grayscale chart;
applying a laser power drift compensation to a set of output laser intensity values from the color laser heads of the scanning system;
applying a FOV compensation to the set of output laser intensity values;
sub-sampling the set of output laser intensity values from each of a plurality of stripes in the grayscale chart from the center of each grayscale stripe;
averaging the sub-sampled second set of output laser intensity values from each grayscale stripe; and
applying a polynomial least-square-fit algorithm to the averaged second set of output laser intensity values for each color laser to obtain laser intensity-color reflectance calibration profiles for each of the color laser heads.