Surface texture analysis based upon the visually acquired perturbation of surface normals

A novel technique has been developed for the textural analysis of Lambertian surfaces while in the presence of a variable albedo. The method has direct application for the surface quality determination of cosmetically sensitive components, and has particular application where more traditional methods may prove unsatisfactory. A photometric stereo technique is used to facilitate the isolation of localised irregular features, such as scratching, indentations or small protrusions, which may be obscured by a coincident, regular or random surface albedo. A generic lighting arrangement is employed, which obviates the need for a customised lighting configuration. This represents a significant advantage for the configuration of industrial vision-based inspection systems. Promising experimental results have been obtained using example components, and are presented in the paper.