State-of-The-Art and Applications of 3D Imaging Sensors in Industry, Cultural Heritage, Medicine, and Criminal Investigation

3D imaging sensors for the acquisition of three dimensional (3D) shapes have created, in recent years, a considerable degree of interest for a number of applications. The miniaturization and integration of the optical and electronic components used to build them have played a crucial role in the achievement of compactness, robustness and flexibility of the sensors. Today, several 3D sensors are available on the market, even in combination with other sensors in a “sensor fusion” approach. An importance equal to that of physical miniaturization has the portability of the measurements, via suitable interfaces, into software environments designed for their elaboration, e.g., CAD-CAM systems, virtual renders, and rapid prototyping tools. In this paper, following an overview of the state-of-art of 3D imaging sensors, a number of significant examples of their use are presented, with particular reference to industry, heritage, medicine, and criminal investigation applications

A three-dimensional imaging system for surface profilometry of moving objects

Non-contact optical imaging system design and the corresponding surface profilometry algorithm are critical components in various metrology applications, such as surface inspection of semiconductor components on the production line. For such challenging industrial applications, the most important considerations are often automation, precision and speed of the inspection. In this work, we propose a mathematical framework and a dynamic phase-shift algorithm (D-PSA) for a dense surface profilometry of moving objects. We also present a fringe pattern projection system with projector and camera arrays, with an aim to reduce the undesirable effects such as the uneven illumination and the perspective geometry effect on the reconstructed surface using a large field-of-view inspection system. This system is then applied to the inspection of the surface of moving printed circuit boards along a conveyor belt. Experimental results show that our approach can reconstruct the object surface effectively and efficiently. © 2013 IEEE.published_or_final_versio

Flexible Object Manipulation

Flexible objects are a challenge to manipulate. Their motions are hard to predict, and the high number of degrees of freedom makes sensing, control, and planning difficult. Additionally, they have more complex friction and contact issues than rigid bodies, and they may stretch and compress. In this thesis, I explore two major types of flexible materials: cloth and string. For rigid bodies, one of the most basic problems in manipulation is the development of immobilizing grasps. The same problem exists for flexible objects. I have shown that a simple polygonal piece of cloth can be fully immobilized by grasping all convex vertices and no more than one third of the concave vertices. I also explored simple manipulation methods that make use of gravity to reduce the number of fingers necessary for grasping. I have built a system for folding a T-shirt using a 4 DOF arm and a fixed-length iron bar which simulates two fingers. The main goal with string manipulation has been to tie knots without the use of any sensing. I have developed single-piece fixtures capable of tying knots in fishing line, solder, and wire, along with a more complex track-based system for autonomously tying a knot in steel wire. I have also developed a series of different fixtures that use compressed air to tie knots in string. Additionally, I have designed four-piece fixtures, which demonstrate a way to fully enclose a knot during the insertion process, while guaranteeing that extraction will always succeed

Photogrammetry as a surveying thechnique apllied to heritage constructions recording - avantages and limitations

Dissertação de Mestrado Integrado em Arquitetura, com a especialização em Arquitetura apresentada na Faculdade de Arquitetura da Universidade de Lisboa para obtenção do grau de Mestre.A presente dissertação tem por objectivo investigar e evidenciar as vantagens da aplicação da fotogrametria, e possíveis integrações com outros métodos de levantamento, como seja o varrimento laser terrestre, posicionamento por GPS, entre outros, para realizar levantamentos de construções patrimoniais ou eruditas e a respectiva produção de documentação base para viabilizar intervenções de conservação, restauro ou reabilitação. A motivação para a investigação advém da aplicação flexível, versátil, simples, acessível, e baixo-custo da fotogrametria em projectos de levantamento pequenos ou extensos. Tenciona-se igualmente colmatar as desvantagens tradicionais da fotogrametria, nomeadamente a transição entre espaços interiores e exteriores, e registo de espaços estreitos, de difícil acesso, e de geometrias complexas, num único projecto de documentação. Pretende-se ultrapassar estas dificuldades através da utilização máxima das potencialidades da fotogrametria com o uso de imagens olho de peixe e apenas como último recurso utilizar instrumentos complementares. No caso de estudo principal, o Castelo do Convento de Cristo, demonstra-se a aplicação dos métodos investigados. Nos casos de estudo secundários abordam-se problemas parcelares, desde elementos decorativos até à totalidade do edificado: Convento dos Capuchos, em Sintra; Alcáçova e trecho de muralha do Castelo de Sesimbra; Igreja de Stº André, em Mafra; entre outros. Os casos auxiliaram na determinação de procedimentos a generalizar posteriormente. Por fim, propõem-se algoritmos que auxiliam na produção de documentação.ABSTRACT: The present dissertation aims to research and demonstrate the advantages of the application of photogrammetry, and its possible integrations with other methods, such as terrestrial laser scanning, GPS positioning, and among others, to perform surveys of heritage or erudite buildings and respective production of base documentation to enable interventions of conservation, restoration, or rehabilitation. The motivation for researching is due to the flexible, versatile, simple, affordable, and low-cost application of photogrammetry in small and extensive survey projects. It is also intended to overcome the traditional disadvantages of photogrammetry, such as the transition between interior and exterior spaces, and difficulty of recording narrow, hard-to-access, and complex geometric spaces, in a single project. It is intended to overcome such challenges by maximizing the potential uses of photogrammetry with the use of fisheye images and by using other survey instruments as a last resort. In the main case study, the Castle of the Convent of Christ, the application of the investigated methods is demonstrated. In the secondary case studies, partial problems are addressed, ranging from decorative elements to the entire building: Convento dos Capuchos, in Sintra; Citadel and section of a wall of the Castle of Sesimbra; Igreja de St André, in Mafra; among others; The case studies aided in determining general procedures. Finally, algorithms that accelerate the production of documentation are proposed.N/

Hybrid Single and Dual Pattern Structured Light Illumination

Structured Light Illumination is a widely used 3D shape measurement technique in non-contact surface scanning. Multi-pattern based Structured Light Illumination methods reconstruct 3-D surface with high accuracy, but are sensitive to object motion during the pattern projection and the speed of scanning process is relatively long. To reduce this sensitivity, single pattern techniques are developed to achieve a high speed scanning process, such as Composite Pattern (CP) and Modified Composite Pattern (MCP) technique. However, most of single patter techniques have a significant banding artifact and sacrifice the accuracy. We focus on developing SLI techniques can achieve both high speed, high accuracy and have the tolerance to the relative motion. We first present a novel Two-Pattern Full Lateral Resolution (2PFLR) SLI method utilizing an MCP pattern for non-ambiguous phase followed by a single sinusoidal pattern for high accuracy. The surface phase modulates the single sinusoidal pattern which is demodulated using a Quadrature demodulation technique and then unwrapped by the MCP phase result. A single sinusoidal pattern reconstruction inherently has banding error. To effective de-band the surface, we propose Projector Space De-banding algorithm (PSDb). We use projector space because the band error is aligned with the projector coordinates allowing more accurate estimation of the banding error. 2PFLR system only allows the relative motion within the FOV of the scanner, to extend the application of the SLI, we present the research on Relative Motion 3-D scanner which utilize a single pattern technique. The pattern in RM3D system is designed based on MCP but has white space area to capture the surface texture, and a constellation correlation filter method is used to estimate the scanner\u27s trajectory and then align the 3-D surface reconstructed by each frame to a point cloud of the whole object surface