Surface height retrieval based on fringe shifting of color-encoded structured light pattern

Area of Science:

• Optics and Photonics
• Metrology
• Computer Vision

Background:

• Three-dimensional (3D) surface measurement is crucial in various scientific and industrial fields.
• Traditional methods often require numerous pattern projections or complex setups.
• High-resolution and efficient 3D surface reconstruction remains a challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a new fringe shifting method for 3D surface height measurement using color structured pattern projection.
• To enable high-resolution object topography retrieval with a reduced number of pattern projections.

Main Methods:

• Combining temporal encoding of color stripes with local spatial shifting of multiple fringes.
• Acquiring images using a minimal number of pattern projections.
• Decoding fringe codewords using redundant spatial and temporal neighborhood information.

Main Results:

• Successfully retrieved object topography with high resolution.
• Demonstrated effectiveness through an application evaluating the shape of a buckled tube.
• Achieved efficient image acquisition with a reduced pattern projection count.

Conclusions:

• The proposed fringe shifting method is effective for high-resolution 3D surface height measurement.
• The combination of temporal encoding and spatial shifting offers an efficient approach for structured light 3D scanning.
• This technique has practical applications in evaluating complex object shapes.