Optical 3D sensor for large objects in industrial application

A new self calibrating optical 3D measurement system using fringe projection technique named “kolibri 1500” is presented. It can be utilised to acquire the all around shape of large objects. The basic measuring principle is the phasogrammetric approach introduced by the authors /1, 2/. The “kolibri 1500” consists of a stationary system with a translation unit for handling of objects. Automatic whole body measurement is achieved by using sensor head rotation and changeable object position, which can be done completely computer controlled. Multi-view measurement is realised by using the concept of virtual reference points. In this way no matching procedures or markers are necessary for the registration of the different images. This makes the system very flexible to realise different measurement tasks. Furthermore, due to self calibrating principle mechanical alterations are compensated. Typical parameters of the system are: the measurement volume extends from 400 mm up to 1500 mm max. length, the measurement time is between 2 min for 12 images up to 20 min for 36 images and the measurement accuracy is below 50μm.The flexibility makes the measurement system useful for a wide range of applications such as quality control, rapid prototyping, design and CAD/CAM which will be shown in the paper.