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:
Jan. 09, 2007
Filed:
Nov. 30, 2001
Yusuf Akgul, Northboro, MA (US);
Ivan Bachelder, Newton, MA (US);
Adam Wagman, Framingham, MA (US);
Jason Davis, Bellingham, MA (US);
Juha Koljonen, Needham, MA (US);
Prabhav Morje, Natick, MA (US);
Yusuf Akgul, Northboro, MA (US);
Ivan Bachelder, Newton, MA (US);
Adam Wagman, Framingham, MA (US);
Jason Davis, Bellingham, MA (US);
Juha Koljonen, Needham, MA (US);
Prabhav Morje, Natick, MA (US);
Cognex Technology and Investment Corporation, Mountain View, CA (US);
Abstract
A method is provided for detecting spot defects on an object when an allowable variation (called the 'background') in the appearance of the object can be modeled. Methods are also provided for measuring and classifying detected spot defects. An alignment model is used to align the image of the object, a background model is then used to estimate the (possibly different) background in each region, and each background is substantially removed from the image so as to form a foreground image on which blob analysis can be applied to detect spot defects, the blob analysis using a threshold image that accommodates different noise statistics for each region. The method facilitates robust spot defect inspection of fiber optic end faces, or of any object with different object regions. The method also allows use of blob analysis over a larger range of conditions, including conditions that make simple blob analysis infeasible.