The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 20, 2001
Filed:
Jan. 28, 2000
Alexander A. Migdal, Princeton, NJ (US);
Michael Petrov, Princeton, NJ (US);
Alexei Lebedev, Princeton, NJ (US);
Viewpoint Corp., New York, NY (US);
Abstract
System and method for rapid collection of data points and construction of a computer model based on a multi-resolution mesh to describe the surface contours and color of an object. The system collects data by projecting shapes of light against the object and collecting (from a position of triangulation relative to the light projector) images of the light as it reflects from the object. The system and method of the present invention are comprised of a multiple laser stripe generation process to project a number of light shapes against the object, the collection of one or more reflected laser stripes in a single image of an images collector to gather sufficient information to reproduce points on the surface of the object. The system compresses the data associated with collected points, which allows for accurate values for the contours of the object to subpixel accuracy. A multi-resolution analysis, which maintains more points to resolve fine details and removes points to further smooth regions of the objects, leads to significant data compression. The adaptive mesh, consisting of the connection of polygonal finite elements, is automatically generated by the system and is comprised to create multi-resolution meshes at different tolerances. The system and method of the present invention is portable, processes rapidly enough to take 3-D images of animate objects, can be implemented using commercially available equipment, and produces accurate models of objects.