Upgrades in Techniques and Tools for 3D Vision Inspection

In its early days, machine vision applications used a camera and a light to make rudimentary measurements, and this configuration was very effective for its purpose. The addition of simple lines of light for illumination of key details extended that capability to use depth information, as well. Today, there are a much wider range of tools that can be integrated into the system for enhancing the inspection process, including interferometric tools, micro-structured patterns and phase analysis.

These techniques allow the swift inspection of complicated shapes as well as part with near specular surfaces. This presentation will provide an overview of the newer interferometric and interferometric-like methods such as micro-patterns and moire systems (large scale interference patterns), that are on the market today and others that are expected to be coming to the market in the near future. Applications of these instruments and methods for the inspection of very small parts to very large parts will be reviewed, along with the dos and don'ts of use in specific applications.

About the presenter
Kevin Harding has over 45 years of experience and the development and use of optical metrology methods. With over 80 short courses taught, 200 published papers, 88 US patents, and 2 books on the subject along with over 40 years working with industry, Harding provides a broad and unbiased perspective on the dos and don’ts of optical metrology. He is a fellow of SPIE and has been recognized for his work by AIA (A3), the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, and the Engineering Society of Detroit.