Active 3D measurements using laser illumination and machine vision

Laser illuminated 2D and 3D measurements of various industrial targets have been studied in three applications.Both point and line types of projected laser illumination have been used in triangulation methods.Line projection optics for the laser was used in the measurement of the shapes of cast concrete bricks on a moving conveyor belt.Dimensional quality control of the surface of the bricks was performed.Positions of the centre of cylindrical paper reels which were being approached by a truck in a storage were also measured with line projection optics.Optical character recognition (OCR) on the labels or printed areas on the reels was used to identify them. single spot, scanned laser was used for the measurement of the distances by a one-dimensional line camera with a row detector.Among potential applications are obstacle detection for vehicle.Special efforts were exerted on low cost and insensitivity to ambient light variations.