The subject disclosure is directed towards projecting light in a pattern in which the pattern contains components (e.g., spots) having different intensities. The pattern may be based upon a grid of initial points associated with first intensities and points between the initial points with second intensities, and so on. The pattern may be rotated relative to cameras that capture the pattern, with captured images used active depth sensing based upon stereo matching of dots in stereo images.

A method for scanning and measuring an environment is provided. The method includes providing a three-dimensional (3D) measurement device having a controller. Images of the environment are recorded and a 3D scan of the environment is produced with a three-dimensional point cloud. A video image of the environment is recorded. The video image is displayed on a first portion of a display. A portion of the three-dimensional point cloud is displayed on a second portion of the display, the second portion of the display being arranged about the periphery of the first portion of the display. Wherein a portion of the 3D point cloud displayed in the second portion represents a portion of the environment outside of a field of view of the video image.

Disclosed is a 3D scanner comprising at least one scanning module for acquiring three-dimensional coordinates of a surface of an object and a positioning device on which the object is placeable or fixable, whereby the positioning device is movable relative to the at least one scanning module, and the 3D scanner further comprising at least one accelerometer, which is configured to measure a change of the position of the positioning device relative to the scanning module, and a first processing unit which is connected to the at least one scanning module and to the positioning device for receiving data.

Also disclosed is a method for scanning a surface of an object to acquire three dimensional (3D) coordinates of the surface.

Calibration in the field is described for stereo and other depth camera configurations using a projector One example includes imaging the first and the second feature in a first camera of the camera system wherein the distance from the first camera to the projector is known, imaging the first and the second feature in a second camera of the camera system, wherein the distance from the second camera to the projector is known, determining a first disparity between the first camera and the second camera to the first feature, determining a second disparity between the first camera and the second camera to the second feature, and determining an epipolar alignment error of the first camera using the first and the second disparities.

The dimension measurement device of one aspect of the present invention includes: an obtainer configured to obtain, from a measurement device for performing three dimensional measurement of a desired object, a set of coordinates in three dimensions of the desired object; a surface extractor configured to determine a focused surface constituting the desired object based on the set of coordinates, and extract a position of a boundary of the focused surface; a region extractor configured to extract, in relation to a candidate region corresponding to an object being a specific object attached to the focused surface, a position of an edge surrounding the candidate region; and a dimension generator configured to generate dimensional data necessary for creating a dimensional drawing of the desired object from the position of the boundary and the position of the edge.

A three-dimensional (3D) scanner having two cameras and a projector is detachably coupled to a device selected from the group consisting of: an articulated arm coordinate measuring machine, a camera assembly, a six degree-of-freedom (six-DOF) tracker target assembly, and a six-DOF light point target assembly.

A broken wheel detection system for detecting broken wheels on rail vehicles even when such vehicles are moving at a high rate of speed.

A three-dimensional (3D) measuring system includes a triangulation scanner having a projector and a first triangulation camera, the projector including a first circular polarizer, the first triangulation camera including a second circular polarizer, the second circular polarizer having handedness opposite the first circular polarizer.

Some embodiments of the invention relate to an optical measuring device for determining 3D coordinates of an object. The optical measuring device may include a projector device for illuminating the object with at least one predefined pattern; at least one PSA camera for capturing a 2D image of the pattern as reflected from the object; computing means for measuring a sequence of brightness values of at least one 2D image point from the 2D images, and calculating a 3D coordinate of an object point which is correlated with the measured sequence of brightness values of the 2D image point. The optical measuring device may also include a TOF camera for capturing at least one range image of the object, the range image including distance information of the object for the dissolution of ambiguity in calculating the 3D coordinate.

Aspects of the subject disclosure are directed towards safely projecting a diffracted light pattern, such as in an infrared laser-based projection/illumination system. Non-diffracted (zero-order) light is refracted once to diffuse (defocus) the non-diffracted light to an eye safe level. Diffracted (non-zero-order) light is aberrated twice, e.g., once as part of diffraction by a diffracting optical element encoded with a Fresnel lens (which does not aberrate the non-diffracted light), and another time to cancel out the other aberration; the two aberrations may occur in either order. Various alternatives include upstream and downstream positioning of the diffracting optical element relative to a refractive optical element, and/or refraction via positive and negative lenses.