Systems and methods for monitoring a saw blade during sawing

1. A system for monitoring a saw blade comprising:

a light source positioned to illuminate a sawn portion of a piece of wood, the sawn portion adjacent a saw blade and positioned between the light source and the saw blade, a first exposed surface of the saw blade to a first side of the sawn portion, and a second exposed surface of the saw blade to a second side of the sawn portion;

an image generator positioned to generate an image of the sawn portion, the first exposed surface and the second exposed surface substantially concurrently, wherein the light source and image generator are positioned substantially perpendicular to a plane through which the saw blade passes through the portion of the piece of wood being sawn; and a computing device

coupled to the image generator to receive data from the image generator and configured to determine at least one geometric characteristic of the sawn portion and at least one geometric characteristic of the saw blade based on the received data.

2. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:

a second light source positioned to illuminate an upstream portion of the piece of wood positioned upstream from the saw blade;

wherein the image generator is further positioned to generate an image of the upstream portion; and

wherein the computing device is further configured to determine at least one geometric characteristic of the upstream portion.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the piece of wood is mounted on a log carriage.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the computing device is configured to control movement of the log carriage based at least in part on the received data.

5. The system of claim 2 , wherein the image generator is further configured to detect brightness levels of the upstream portion.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the upstream portion includes a previously sawn face of the piece of wood, and wherein the computing device is further configured to determine a quality of the piece of wood based at least in part on the detected brightness levels.

7. The system of claim 2 , wherein the computing device is further configured to detect a knot indicator.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the computing device is further configured to determine a quality of the piece of wood based at least in part on the detected knot indicator.

9. The system of claim 2 , wherein the computing device is further configured to determine a predicted thickness of the sawn portion prior to sawing based at least in part on the at least one geometric characteristic of the upstream portion and control movement of the piece of wood based at least in part on the predicted thickness.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the computing device is further configured to determine a width of the sawn portion of the piece of wood adjacent the saw blade.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein the light source includes a planar laser scanner.

12. The system of claim 1 , wherein the image generator is a charged coupled device (CCD) camera.

13. A system to monitor a saw blade, the system comprising:

a light source that produces at least one line of light that illuminates a portion of a piece of wood being sawn and both a first and a second exposed surface of a saw blade that extends respectively from a first and a second edge of the portion of the piece of wood being sawn during sawing;

an imager having a field of view that concurrently encompasses the illuminated sawn portion, the first exposed surface and the second exposed surface of the saw blade, wherein the light source and imager are positioned substantially perpendicular to a plane through which the saw blade passes through the portion of the piece of wood being sawn; and

a computer communicatively coupled to the imager to receive data from the imager and configured to determine at least one geometric characteristic of the portion of the piece of wood being sawn and at least one geometric characteristic of the saw blade based on the received data.

14. The system of claim 13 , further comprising:

a second light source positioned to illuminate an upstream portion of the piece of wood that is upstream from the saw blade with respect to a direction of travel of the piece of wood relative to the saw blade;

wherein the field of view of the imager further encompasses the upstream portion; and

wherein the computer is further configured to determine at least one geometric characteristic of the upstream portion.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the piece of wood is mounted on a log carriage and the computer controls movement of the log carriage based at least in part on the received data.

16. The system of claim 14 , wherein the imager detects brightness levels of the upstream portion and the computer determines a quality of the piece of wood based at least in part on the detected brightness levels.

17. The system of claim 14 , wherein the computer detects any knot indicators, and determines a quality of the piece of wood based at least in part on any detected knot indicators.

18. The system of claim 14 , wherein the computer determines a predicted thickness of the portion of the wood prior to sawing based at least in part on the at least one geometric characteristic of the upstream portion and controls movement of the piece of wood based at least in part on the predicted thickness.

19. The system of claim 14 , wherein the computer determines a width of the sawn portion of the piece of wood adjacent the saw blade.

20. The system of claim 14 , wherein the light source includes a laser source that produces a laser beam that scans back and forth to produce the line of light.

21. The system of claim 14 , wherein the light source includes two laser sources that produce respective laser beams that scan back and forth, the two light sources collocated with the imager to be mounted at a single location.