This technology is a method for converting structured light arrays into diffuse illumination patterns, mitigating the adverse effects of specularities and shadows commonly observed in structured light systems used for machine vision applications.
Automation technology has become a key component of modern day assembly lines, responsible for sorting, material handling, precision manufacturing, and quality control. Such tasks utilize machine vision technology, which requires object illumination currently achieved by standard structured light methods. However, these methods produce strong highlights due to specular reflection that degrade machine vision performance, and they cannot recover useful information for regions that lie within dark shadows. As such, there is a need for suitable object illumination that does not disrupt the dynamic range and depth perception of machine vision systems.
This technology is a method for converting standard structured lighting into diffuse illumination patterns, mitigating the presence of shadows and reflection specularities while providing even illumination of objects. To achieve this, this technology uses a structured light system with translational symmetry that diffuses the illumination pattern along the axis of translation. Illuminating objects with the resulting diffuse patterns ensures that they fall within a machine vision system’s dynamic range and can be accurately imaged and processed, allowing for optimal machine vision and performance. By reducing shadows and specularities, this technology provides a simple method to improve the capabilities and resolution of machine vision.
A prototype of this technology delivered a significant improvement in image quality and reconstruction compared to images taken with conventional structured light illumination.
IR CU12056
Licensing Contact: Satish Rao
