Method and apparatus for three-dimensional scanning

Abstract

Three-dimensional information and a three-dimensional display of the surface of an object is provided by a scanning laser beam mounted on a high-speed rotating disc to repetitively scan across an object transported below the disc upon a moving carrier. Light reflected from the object surface back along the axis of the scanning beam is detected to indicate surface characteristics, such as reflection intensity. Positions of the projected beam in the course of its scanning rotation and of the carrier in the course of its transport motion are detected to generate signals that define the XY position of the scanning beam. Light of the projected energy beam, as reflected from the object at an angle to the beam axis, is imaged by a second lens upon a linear detector array, whereby the position of the image along the linear detector array will indicate elevation of the reflecting area along the axis of the projected beam. The signals defining the XY position of the scanning beam also define the XY positions of the elevation data from the linear array and the XY positions of the information obtained from the detector of coaxially reflected energy. Several solid-state lasers and detectors are carried by the rotating disc in one embodiment to provide measurements of different object characteristics and to improve scan speed or resolution.