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US 8,892,252 B1Granted
Motion capture tracking for nondestructive inspection
AssigneeThe Boeing Company
InventorsJames J. Troy, Gary E. Georgeson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system that uses optical motion capture hardware for position and orientation tracking of non-destructive inspection (NDI) sensor units. This system can be used to track NDI sensor arrays attached to machine-actuated movement devices, as well as in applications where the NDI sensor array is hand-held. In order to achieve integration with NDI hardware, including proprietary systems commercially available, a data acquisition device and custom software are used to transmit the tracking data from the motion capture system to the NDI scanning system, without requiring modifications to the NDI scanning system.
Claims20
A method for scanning across a surface of a part within a capture volume, comprising:
- (a) scanning the surface of the part using an inspection unit;
- (b) acquiring measurement data representing one or more motion characteristics of the inspection unit using a motion capture system operatively disposed with respect to the capture volume, the one or more motion characteristics being measured using a plurality of retro-reflective markers attached to the inspection unit in a known pattern;
- (c) deriving position data and orientation data from the measurement data, said position data and orientation data representing positions and orientations of the inspection unit in a coordinate system of the part being scanned;
- (d) acquiring inspection data during step (a);
- and
- (e) combining the position data derived in step (c) with the inspection data acquired in step (d).
3 more elements
A method for scanning across a surface of a part within a capture volume, comprising:
- (a) moving an inspection unit along a desired path on the surface of the part;
- (b) measuring positions of retro-reflective markers attached to the inspection unit with respect to a motion capture coordinate system;
- (c) converting measurements of the positions of the retro-reflective markers with respect to the motion capture coordinate system into first position data and orientation data representing the positions and orientations of the inspection unit with respect to the coordinate system of the part;
- (d) encoding the first position data into simulated encoder pulses which indicate the positions of the inspection unit with respect to the coordinate system of the part;
- (e) acquiring inspection data during movement of the inspection unit along the desired path;
- (f) sending the simulated encoder pulses and the acquired inspection data to a processor;
- (g) decoding the simulated encoder pulses into second position data representing positions of the inspection unit with respect to the coordinate system of the part;
- (h) associating the second position data with the inspection data;
- and
- (i) displaying the inspection data in accordance with associations made in step (g).
7 more elements
A system comprising:
- an inspection unit disposed on a portion of a surface of a part located within a capture volume and operable to acquire inspection data during its motion;
- a motion capture subsystem programmed to acquire first location data representing positions and orientations of said inspection unit with respect to a motion capture coordinate system;
- a motion tracking subsystem connected to receive said first location data from said motion capture subsystem and programmed to output second location data which is a function of the first location data received from said motion capture subsystem, said second location data representing positions and orientations of said inspection unit with respect to a coordinate system of said part;
- a data acquisition device connected to receive said second location data from said motion tracking subsystem and programmed to encode portions of said second location data received from said motion tracking subsystem into simulated encoder pulses;
- and
- an inspection scanning subsystem with pulse-based position inputs connected to receive said simulated encoder pulses from said data acquisition device and said inspection data from said inspection unit, said inspection scanning subsystem with pulsed-based position inputs being programmed to decode encoder pulses into position data and then associate said position data with said inspection data for display, wherein said position data represents the positions of said inspection unit with respect to said coordinate system of said part.
3 more elements
A system for nondestructive inspection of a part within a capture volume, comprising:
- an inspection unit disposed on a surface of said part within said capture volume and operable to acquire inspection data during its motion;
- a plurality of retro-reflective markers attached to said inspection unit and arranged in a known pattern;
- a plurality of illuminators;
- a plurality of cameras capable of receiving light transmitted by said illuminators and reflected from said markers and converting said received light into image space measurement data representing one or more motion characteristics of said inspection unit with respect to a motion capture coordinate system;
- and
- a computer system connected to receive inspection data from said inspection unit and image space measurement data from said cameras, said computer system being programmed to perform the following operations:
- (a) deriving position data and orientation data from the image space measurement data, said position data and orientation data representing the positions and orientations of said inspection unit with respect to a coordinate system of said part and;
- and
- (b) associating the position data with the inspection data.
6 more elements
A system for nondestructive inspection of a part within a capture volume, comprising:
- an inspection unit disposed on a surface of said part within said capture volume and operable to acquire inspection data during its motion;
- a plurality of retro-reflective markers attached to said inspection unit and arranged in a pattern;
- a plurality of illuminators;
- a plurality of cameras capable of receiving light transmitted by said illuminators and reflected from said markers and converting said received light into image space measurement data;
- means for converting the image space measurement data from at least two cameras into first position data and orientation data representing the positions and orientations of said inspection unit with respect to a motion capture coordinate system;
- means for transforming said first position data into second position data representing the positions of said inspection unit with respect to a coordinate system of the part being scanned;
- means for encoding said second position data into simulated encoder pulses;
- means for decoding said simulated encoder pulses into third position data representing the positions of said inspection unit with respect to the coordinate system of the part being scanned;
- and
- means for displaying an image based on inspection data acquired by said inspection unit and said third position data.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.