Patent · US Expired

Method and apparatus for inputting three-dimensional data

US6556307B1 · kind B1 · utility

14Cited by
3References
60Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateSep 10, 1999
Grant dateApr 29, 2003
Priority date
Expiry dateSep 10, 2019

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG01B11/2518
  • WIPO fieldMeasurement
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

A method and apparatus for inputting three-dimensional data are provided, in which operation for obtaining incident angles is not required and accuracy of three-dimensional data can be improved. The method includes steps of irradiating a reference light beam from a first starting point A to an object by a first angle &thgr;A, irradiating a reference light beam from a second starting point B separated from the first starting point A to the object by a second angle &thgr;B, moving the first and the second starting points A, B in one direction so as to perform sub scanning of an imaginary plane VS, detecting time points TA, TB when the reference light beam reflected by the object Q passes each sampling section of the imaginary plane; and calculating the position of the object for each sampling section in accordance with positions of the first and second starting points A, B in each of the detected time points TA, TB and first and second angles &thgr;A, &thgr;B.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.