Non-contact deviation measurement system

1. A deviation measuring system for a propellant column at least partially filling a projectile casing, the system comprising:

a surface for placement of the projectile casing and the propellant column;

a first projector projecting a first line towards the propellant column and a second projector projecting a second line towards the propellant column, the first line overlapping the second line at an intersection line, the intersection line oriented at a nominal height relative to the surface for placement of the projectile casing and the propellant column;

an optical sensor positioned to capture an image of the projections of the first line and the second line upon a surface of the propellant column; and

a processor executing an analysis software to analyze the image and to calculate a deviation between a height of the surface of the propellant column and the nominal height by using a distance a between the first line and the second line as projected onto the surface of the propellant column

wherein the distance α is determined using the analysis of the image.

2. The deviation measuring system of claim 1 , wherein the first projector and the second projector are focused at the intersection line.

3. The deviation measuring system of claim 1 , wherein the distance α comprises an average distance between the first line and the second line in an analysis area of the image.

4. The deviation measuring system of claim 3 , wherein a dimension of the analysis area is equal to or greater than a diameter of the propellant column.

5. The deviation measuring system of claim 3 , wherein a dimension of the analysis area is equal to approximately 4 times a grain size of the propellant column.

6. The deviation measuring system of claim 1 , wherein the deviation is calculated using an angle φ between the projections of the first line and the second line according to the following formula:

deviation

=

a

⁢

⁢

cot

⁡

(

φ

2

)

2

.

7. The deviation measuring system of claim 6 , wherein the angle φ between the projections of the first line and the second line falls within a range of 10 degrees to 170 degrees.

8. The deviation measuring system of claim 1 , wherein the surface for placement of the projectile casing and the propellant column is a tray and the distance between the first line and the second line as projected upon the tray may be used to verify the nominal height of the intersection line.

9. The deviation measuring system of claim 1 , wherein the surface of the propellant column is nonplanar.

10. The deviation measuring system of claim 1 , wherein the propellant column comprises a powder.

11. The deviation measuring system of claim 1 , wherein the intersection line is horizontal.

12. The deviation measuring system of claim 1 , wherein a vertical axis intersects the intersection line, and the projection of the first line is oriented at an angle to the vertical axis such that the first line is located to a first side of the vertical axis at locations above the intersection line and located to a second side of the vertical axis at locations below the intersection line.

13. The deviation measuring system of claim 12 , wherein the projection of the second line is oriented at an angle to the vertical axis such that the second line is located to the second side of the vertical axis at locations above the intersection line and located to the first side of the vertical axis at locations below the intersection line.

14. The deviation measuring system of claim 1 , further comprising a third projector projecting a third line, the third line oriented perpendicular to the intersection line, the position of the third line as projected on the surface of the propellant column and indicating whether an upper surface is above or below the nominal height.

15. A method for measuring deviation of a propellant column at least partially filling a projectile casing, the method comprising:

providing, on a supporting surface, the propellant column at least partially filling the projectile casing;

providing a first projector for projecting a first line towards the propellant column and a second projector for projecting a second line towards the propellant column, the first projector and the second projector oriented such that the first line overlaps the second line at an intersection line, the intersection line oriented at a nominal height, relative to the supporting surface;

projecting the first line and the second line onto a surface of the propellant column;

measuring an average distance between the first line and the second line as projected onto the surface of the propellant column; and

calculating a height deviation between the nominal height and a height of the surface of the propellant column using the average distance measured and an intersection angle between the projection of the first line and the projection of the second line.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the step of measuring the average distance between the first line and the second line as projected onto the surface of the propellant column further comprises providing an optical sensor, capturing an image of the projections of the first line and the second line upon the surface of the propellant column and analyzing the image to determine the average distance.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein the step of calculating a height deviation further comprises providing a processor and software to perform the calculation.

18. The method of claim 15 , further comprising determining whether the calculated height deviation falls within a predetermined maximum acceptable height deviation.