Calibration of double stripe 3D laser scanner systems using planarity and orthogonality constraints

In this study, 3D scanning systems that utilize a pair of laser stripes are studied. Three types of scanning systems are implemented to scan environments, rough surfaces of near planar objects and small 3D objects. These scanners make use of double laser stripes to minimize the undesired effect of occlusions. Calibration of these scanning systems is crucially important for the alignment of 3D points which are reconstructed from different stripes. In this paper, the main focus is on the calibration problem, following a treatment on the pre-processing of stripe projections using dynamic programming and localization of 2D image points with sub-pixel accuracy. The 3D points corresponding to laser stripes are used in an optimization procedure that imposes geometrical constraints such as coplanarities and orthogonalities. It is shown that, calibration procedure proposed here, significantly improves the alignment of 3D points scanned using two laser stripes.     

A novel method for 3D reconstruction: Division and merging of overlapping B-spline surfaces

B-spline surfaces, extracted from scanned sensor data, are usually required to represent objects in inspection, surveying technology, metrology and reverse engineering tasks. In order to express a large object with a satisfactory accuracy, multiple scans, which generally lead to overlapping patches, are always needed due to, inter-alia, practical limitations and accuracy of measurements, uncertainties in measurement devices, calibration problems as well as skills of the experimenter. In this paper, we propose an action sequence consisting of division and merging. While the former divides a B-spline surface into many patches with corresponding scanned data, the latter merges the scanned data and its overlapping B-spline surface patch. Firstly, all possible overlapping cases of two B-spline surfaces are enumerated and analyzed from a view of the locations of the projection points of four corners of one surface in the interior of its overlapping surface. Next, the general division and merging methods are developed to deal with all overlapping cases, and a simulated example is used to illustrate aforementioned detailed procedures. In the sequel, two scans obtained from a three-dimensional laser scanner are simulated to express a large house with B-spline surfaces. The simulation results show the efficiency and efficacy of the proposed method. In this whole process, storage space of data points is not increased with new obtained overlapping scans, and none of the overlapping points are discarded which increases the representation accuracy. We believe the proposed method has a number of potential applications in the representation and expression of large objects with three-dimensional laser scanner data.     

3D part inspection path planning of a laser scanner with control on the uncertainty

This article concerns the measurement process of mechanical parts using laser scanners. From the point of view of industrial applications, the objective is to guarantee the measurement accuracy during the scanning with regard to the geometrical product specifications. The proposed method can be summarized as follows: the first step consists of analyzing the interval of tolerance for the different specifications and to attribute to every geometrical entity a maximal uncertainty of measurement. This uncertainty depends on the angle of incidence between the laser plane and the scanned surface. In the second step, an approach based on the concept of visibility is used from the CAD model of the inspected part to find correct sensor guidance in a metrological point of view. A few position-points from this set are used to define the scanning path. Finally, the measurement can be carried out and the specifications can be controlled after the segmentation of the point clouds. An example illustrates the approach.     

The evaluation of speckle contrast with variable speckle generator

Abstract— While laser projection has many advantages, there is a problem with speckle patterns generated as a result of interference of the laser beam and results in bad effects to observers. In 2010, a variable speckle generator, which produces an angular shift of incident light to the screen and generates variable speckle patterns, was suggested. In this study, the performance of a variable speckle generator by using a volume phase holographic beam shaper and scanning mirror was investigated in detail by evaluating both the objective and subjective speckle contrast. The morphology of the speckle pattern was also investigated when the variable speckle generator was activated. With a scanning VPH beam shaper, the objective speckle was effectively reduced because each point of the VPH beam shaper generated different speckle patterns and coherency among each pattern disappeared by using the scan process. On the other hand, subjective speckle was also dramatically reduced by changing the incident angle on the screen, which resulted in generating variable subjective speckle. It was also shown that the speckle reduction rate by using a variable speckle generator did not depend on the coherent length of a laser by evaluating the normalized speckle contrast against the angular shift on the screen.     

Hole filling of triangular mesh segments using systematic grey prediction

Recent advances in reverse engineering technology have made it possible to acquire accurate point information about model surfaces using 3D laser scanners. However, data capture can be reduced by limitations in the scanner structure or characteristics of the scanned objects, resulting in holes in the triangular mesh model and reducing the model’s quality. The current study seeks to fill these holes using software-based calculations and systematic grey prediction, thus preserving the original exterior surface of the reconstructed model. A 3D digital dental model was acquired using a 3D laser scanner, followed by hole detection and surface mending. Due to the simplicity and minimal dataset used in grey theory, a grey prediction system was built to perform prediction-adjustment to preserve the original dental exterior surface.     

Micro-mirror laser scanner combined with a varifocal mirror

A laser beam scanning system consisting of a scanning micro-mirror and a varifocal micro-mirror is fabricated for laser beam sensing with variable beam diameter. The scanning micro-mirror is operated under the resonant oscillation condition with an electrostatic comb-drive actuator. The varifocal micro-mirror is driven by a bending moment generated at the circumference of mirror with a parallel-palate electrostatic actuator. The scanning micro-mirror and the varifocal mirror are fabricated on a silicon on insulator wafer. The rotational angle of 9° at 766 Hz is obtained at the voltage of 300 V. The spot size of the laser beam is adjusted from 0.5 to 3.5 cm at the distance of 43 m by changing varifocal voltage. The proposed scanning system can be useful for several sensing techniques.     

Microsurface Reverse Engineering and Compensation for Laser Micromachining

Microsurface scale characteristics (roughness, waviness and form) and the workpiece mounting fixture effects must be accounted and compensated for during laser micromachining such that the focused laser spot position is known in the coordinates of the measured surfaces. Thus, allowing rapid and accurate micromachining on the true workpiece engineering surface. The thin-plate splines (TPSs), a mathematically simple theory, is modified and employed in the reconstruction of 2 1/2 D unfolded continuous and differentiable microtopographical surfaces from a limited set of sampled digital elevation data. The TPS theory aids in restoring bad samples and in enhancing the visualization of the reconstructed surface and the characterization of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) structures. The reverse engineered surface could also be interfaced and used with a CAD/CAM system to compensate for the focal spot location of a laser beam based on the actual reversed engineered workpiece surface. The practical examples of the real microsurfaces presented in this work, combine comprehensive identification with the ultimate goal of utilizing the algorithms in the compensation of the laser focused spot for a femtosecond laser micromachining (FLM) system currently under development in our laboratory.     

Localization algorithm using a virtual label for a mobile robot in indoor and outdoor environments

Scanning laser range sensors provide range data consisting of a set of point measurements. The laser sensor URG-04LX has a distance range of approximately 0.02–4 m and a scanning angle range of 240°. Usually, such an image range is acquired from one viewpoint by “moving” the laser beam using rotating mirrors/prisms. The orientation of the laser beam can easily be measured and converted into the coordinates of the image. This article conducts localization using virtual labels with data about distances in the environment obtained from 2D distance laser sensors. This method puts virtual labels on special features and points which are along the mobile robot’s path. The current location is calculated by combining the virtual label and the range image of the laser range finder.     

Real-time triangulation of point streams

Hand-held laser scanners are commonly used in industry for reverse engineering and quality measurements. In this process, it is difficult for the human operator to scan the target object completely and uniformly. Therefore, an interactive triangulation of the scanned points can assist the operator in this task. In this paper, we describe the technical and implementational details of our real-time triangulation approach for point streams, presented at the 17th International Meshing Roundtable. Our method computes a triangulation of the point stream generated by the laser scanner online, i.e., the data points are added to the triangulation as they are received from the scanner. Multiple scanned areas and areas with a higher point density result in a finer mesh and a higher accuracy. On the other hand, the vertex density adapts to the estimated surface curvature. To guide the operator, the resulting triangulation is rendered with a visualization of its uncertainty and the display of an optimal scanning direction.     

机载激光扫描测距仪的误差分析

对机载激光扫描测距仪在实际测量中的扫描角、目标表面倾斜度、激光束发散角效应、GPS定位精度及INS姿态测量精度等可能引起测量误差的因素进行了分析,并给出了定量化的评估,为机载激光扫描测距系统的测距精度的提高和测距性能的改进提供了有益的参考依据。     

Mesh filtering algorithm using an adaptive 3D convolution kernel applied to a volume-based vector distance field

This paper addresses the problem of feature preserving mesh filtering, which occurs in surface reconstruction of scanned objects, which include acquisition noise to be removed without altering sharp edges. We propose a method based on a vector field distance transform of the mesh to process. It is a volume-based implicit surface modeling, which provides an alternative representation of meshes. We use an adaptive 3D convolution kernel applied to the voxels of the distance transform model. Weights of the kernel elements are determined according to the angle between the vectors of the implicit field. We also propose a new adaptation of the Marching Cubes algorithm in order to extract the isosurface from the vector implicit field after the filtering process. We compare our method to the previous one introduced using the vector field representation and to other feature preserving adaptive filtering algorithms. According to error metric evaluations, we show that our new design provides high quality filtering results while better preserving geometric features.     

Towards fully automatic reliable 3D acquisition: From designing imaging network to a complete and accurate point cloud

This paper describes a novel system for accurate 3D digitization of complex objects. Its main novelties can be seen in the new approach, which brings together different systems and tools in a unique platform capable of automatically generating an accurate and complete model for an object of interest. This is performed through generating an approximate model of the object, designing a stereo imaging network for the object with this model and capturing the images at the designed postures through exploiting an inverse kinematics method for a non-standard six degree of freedom robot. The images are then used for accurate and dense 3D reconstruction using photogrammetric multi-view stereo method in two modes, including resolving scale with baseline and with control points. The results confirm the feasibility of using Particle Swarm Optimization in solving inverse kinematics for this non-standard robot. The system provides this opportunity to test the effect of incidence angle on imaging network design and shows that the matching algorithms work effectively for incidence angle of 10°. The accuracy of the final point cloud generated with the system was tested in two modes through a comparison with a dataset generated with a close range 3D colour laser scanner.     

基于MIMO的对流层散射通信信道损耗研究

针对多输入多输出(Multiple-Input Multiple-Output,MIMO)场景下的对流层散射通信信道损耗进行了研究。在设计远距离MIMO通信系统时,链路损耗估计是其中的关键技术,而现有技术在损耗估计时都忽略了波束与散射体碰撞时的能量损耗。根据湍流非相干散射理论,首先将对流层建模为多条可微的曲线,从而与发射和接收天线阵列构成曲边梯形,根据此信道几何模型,计算入射角、反射角和散射角的角度关系;其次,建立了电磁波束射入散射体后散射波在散射体表面的能量分布模型;最后,根据波束传输距离,量化散射信道的损耗,推导得到基于MIMO对流层散射信道的衰落系数和信道矩阵。将仿真计算结果与实际数据进行对比,验证了所提模型在链路损耗估计问题上的有效性和准确性,同时根据仿真结果对接收天线的仰角设计提出了建议。     

Representation of a human head with bi-cubic B-splines technique based on the laser scanning technique in 3D surface anthropometry

Three-dimensional (3D) anthropometry based on the laser scanning technique not only provides one-dimensional measurements calculated in accordance with the landmarks which are pre-located on the human body surface manually, but also the 3D shape information between the landmarks. This new technique used in recent ergonomic research has brought new challenges to resolving the application problem that was generally avoided by anthropometric experts in their researches. The current research problem is concentrating on how to shift and develop one-dimensional measurements (1D landmarks) into three-dimensional measurements (3D land-surfaces). The main purpose of this paper is to test whether the function of B-splines can be used to fit 3D scanned human heads, and to for further study to develop a computer aided ergonomic design tool (CAED). The result shows that B-splines surfaces can effectively reconstruct 3D human heads based on the laser scanning technique.     

Haptic discrimination of virtual surface slope

We report the difference thresholds of the slope of a virtual surface rendered via a force–feedback haptic interface with the body frontal plane as a reference. The factors varied in experiments were the stiffness of a virtual plane, the lateral velocity with which the haptic probe scanned the plane, the length of a scanning interval, the movement direction of the probe to the body frontal plane (toward or away from the body), and lateral scanning direction (left-to-right or right-to-left). Measured slope thresholds ranged from 8.33° to 12.74° and were generally higher than or similar to previously published thresholds for haptic orientation or angle discrimination. The results suggested that haptic slope discriminability was independent of surface stiffness and lateral scanning velocity. Slope discrimination was largely affected by the lateral scan distance, indicating that the terminal difference of probe normal position can be an important sensory cue. In terms of scan direction, inward or rightward scans resulted in better slope discrimination than outward or leftward scans, respectively. These thresholds and findings have implications for haptics applications that involve geometric model modification or simplification of virtual objects while preserving their perceptual properties.     

A Survey Of Free-Form Object Representation and Recognition Techniques

Advances in computer speed, memory capacity, and hardware graphics acceleration have made the interactive manipulation and visualization of complex, detailed (and therefore large) three-dimensional models feasible. These models are either painstakingly designed through an elaborate CAD process or reverse engineered from sculpted prototypes using modern scanning technologies and integration methods. The availability of detailed data describing the shape of an object offers the computer vision practitioner new ways to recognize and localize free-form objects. This survey reviews recent literature on both the 3D model building process and techniques used to match and identify free-form objects from imagery.     

激光武器跟瞄精度及其成因分析

本文从激光武器跟瞄系统的跟瞄精度需求入手,结合造成激光光束散射角扩大的主要原因以及跟瞄系统中的误差源,通过分析激光光斑的稳定性导出了激光武器跟瞄系统的精度与激光光束散射角的关系,最后仿真得出了激光武器对跟瞄系统精度的需求.     

基于局部指纹曲面片的点云三维物体识别

提出一种新的基于局部描述符的点云物体识别算法。算法根据点云的位置信息提取出邻域以及曲率信息,进而得到形状索引信息。根据形状索引提取到特征点,在每个特征点根据样条拟合原理得到测地距离和矢量夹角分割曲面得到曲面片集。每个曲面片的等距测地线构成了曲面片指纹,通过矢量和半径的变化描述,可以把每个模型物体得到的曲面片集描述存入数据库。对于给定的一个物体,根据上面步骤同样得到其曲面片集描述,通过和数据库中模型物体曲面片集的比对,得到初始识别结果。对每对初始识别结果进行对应滤波后,通过最近点迭代方法得到最终的识别结果。最后通过具体的实验说明了算法的有效性和高效性。