System and method for adaptively conformed imaging of work pieces having disparate configuration

A system for adaptively conformed imaging of specimen work pieces having disparate multi-featured pinned configurations, comprising:

• a mount unit including at least one pin holder for securing at least one specimen work piece thereto;
• an imaging unit for capturing images of the specimen work piece held by said mount unit;
• at least one robotic manipulator unit coupled to selectively manipulate at least one of said mount and imaging units for relative displacement therebetween;
• and,
• a controller coupled to said manipulator and imaging units, said controller automatically actuating said manipulator and imaging units to execute:
• a 3-dimensional scene segmentation about the held specimen work piece, wherein at least one zone of operation is spatially defined in peripherally conformed manner about the held specimen work piece, said scene segmentation including:
• reference imaging, wherein said imaging unit is actuated to acquire a plurality of reference images of the held specimen work piece from different aspect angles;
• and,
• feature discovery, wherein said reference images are processed to distinguish discrete features of the held specimen work piece, said discrete features including a pin, and a specimen and label respectively impaled thereon;
• and,
• an acquisition path mapping for the held specimen work piece, wherein a constellation of spatially offset acquisition points are mapped about the held workpiece within said zone of operation, each said acquisition point defining a vantage point for said imaging unit to capture an image of the held specimen work piece therefrom.

A method for adaptively conformed imaging of work pieces having disparate configurations, comprising:

• securing at least one work piece on a mount unit;
• establishing at least one imaging unit for capturing images of the work piece held by said mount unit;
• establishing at least one manipulator unit to selectively manipulate at least one of said mount and imaging units for relative displacement therebetween;
• and,
• actuating a controller coupled to said manipulator and imaging units to automatically actuate said manipulator and imaging units to execute:
• a spatial scene segmentation about the held work piece, wherein at least one zone of operation is spatially defined in peripherally conformed manner about the held work piece;
• and,
• an acquisition path mapping for the held work piece, wherein a sequence of spatially offset acquisition points are mapped within said zone of operation, each said acquisition point defining a vantage point from which said imaging unit captures an image of the held work piece;
• wherein said scene segmentation includes:
• reference imaging, wherein said imaging unit is actuated to acquire a plurality of reference images of the held work piece from different aspect angles;
• feature discovery, wherein said reference images are processed to distinguish discrete features of the held work piece;
• wherein said discrete features distinguished by said feature discovery include a pin, and a specimen and descriptive indicia disposed thereon.