Auto-detection of strip area in 3D measurement

3D measurement is an important task for modern manufacturing, because 2D measurement cannot meet the increasing requirements for quality control in engineering. Among all, 3D recovery methods, by using structural lighting system are the most popular methods because of its non-destructive character. The acquiring of lighting strips, which have to be projected on the object is the most important work to ensure later matching work. In the former research, the position of the stripes in the image was very difficult to locate and must be drawn manually. Therefore, the aim of our research is to find a method to auto-detect the strip area. FFT (fast Fourier transform algorithm) are used to analyze the image character by row and by column. From the FFT result, in the power spectrum the strip area and non-strip area can be distinguished clearly. So the strip area can be marked exactly on the image, and image process algorithm can be used to pick up the strips only on this area. After the matching and 3D recovery algorithm, the 3D shape of the object can be plotted. The auto-detection strip algorithm can save a lot of time for the 3D measurement, automatically complete the 3D recovery procedure, and bring convenience to operators. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.