Method and system for automatic exposure determination for high- resolution structured light 3D imaging

1. A method for measuring a three-dimensional profile of an object, the method comprising:

projecting, with a projector, structured light onto an object to generate fringe patterns on a surface of the object;

capturing, with a camera, a first image of the surface of the object with a first exposure time, the first image including the fringe patterns on the surface of the object;

determining, with a processor, a first scaling factor based on (i) a lowest intensity value to which the camera will respond and (ii) the first image;

determining a second exposure time based on the first scaling factor and the first exposure time;

capturing, with the camera, at least one second image of the surface of the object with the second exposure time, the at least one second image including the fringe patterns on the surface of the object; and

determining, with the processor, a three-dimensional profile of the surface of the object based on the fringe patterns captured in the at least one second image.

2. The method according to claim 1 further comprising:

determining, with the processor, prior to capturing the first image, the lowest intensity value to which the camera will respond, based on images captured by the camera.

3. A method for measuring a three-dimensional profile of an object, the method comprising:

projecting, with a projector, structured light onto an object to generate fringe patterns on a surface of the object;

capturing, with a camera, a first image of the surface of the object with a first exposure time, the first image including the fringe patterns on the surface of the object;

determining the first scaling factor based on (i) a target maximum intensity value and (ii) the first image;

determining a second exposure time based on the first scaling factor and the first exposure time;

capturing, with the camera, at least one second image of the surface of the object with the second exposure time, the at least one second image including the fringe patterns on the surface of the object; and

determining, with the processor, a three-dimensional profile of the surface of the object based on the fringe patterns captured in the at least one second image.

4. The method according to claim 3 , further comprising:

receiving the target maximum intensity value from a user via a user interface.

5. The method according to claim 3 , further comprising:

automatically setting the target maximum intensity value based on a saturation point of the camera.

6. A method for measuring a three-dimensional profile of an object, the method comprising:

projecting, with a projector, structured light onto an object to generate fringe patterns on a surface of the object;

capturing, with a camera, a first image of the surface of the object with a first exposure time, the first image including the fringe patterns on the surface of the object;

identifying a subset of pixels in the first image corresponding to the surface of the object;

selecting a pixel from the subset of pixels, the selected pixel being selected such that less than a predetermined percentage of all other pixels in the subset of pixels have measured intensity values greater than a measured intensity value of the selected pixel;

determining a first scaling factor based on the measured intensity value of the selected pixel;

determining a second exposure time based on the first scaling factor and the first exposure time;

capturing, with the camera, at least one second image of the surface of the object with the second exposure time, the at least one second image including the fringe patterns on the surface of the object; and

determining, with the processor, a three-dimensional profile of the surface of the object based on the fringe patterns captured in the at least one second image.

7. The method according to claim 6 , the selecting the pixel comprising:

sorting the measured intensity values of the subset of pixels;

assigning each of the measured intensity values of the subset of pixels an integer index according to the sorting;

selecting an index such that less than a predetermined percentage of all other measured intensities of the subset of pixels are greater than a measured intensity at the selected index; and

selecting the pixel from the subset of pixels that corresponds to the measured intensity value at the selected index.

8. A method for measuring a three-dimensional profile of an object, the method comprising:

projecting, with a projector, structured light onto an object to generate fringe patterns on a surface of the object;

capturing, with a camera, a first image of the surface of the object with a first exposure time, the first image including the fringe patterns on the surface of the object;

determining a plurality of second exposure times;

capturing, with the camera, at least one image of the surface of the object with each of the plurality of second exposure times, each including the fringe patterns on the surface of the object;

generating, with the processor, at least one second image based on the at least one image captured with each of the plurality of second exposure times; and

determining, with the processor, a three-dimensional profile of the surface of the object based on the fringe patterns captured in the at least one second image.

9. The method according to claim 8 , the determining the plurality of second exposure times comprising:

determining a first of the plurality of second exposure times based on the first image; and

determining a second of the plurality of second exposure times based on the first of the plurality of second exposure times.

10. The method according to claim 9 , the determining the second of the plurality of second exposure times comprising:

determining a second scaling factor; and

determining the second of the plurality of second exposure times based on the second scaling factor and the first of the plurality of second exposure times.

11. The method according to claim 10 , the determining the second scaling factor comprising:

setting a target maximum intensity value for the at least one second image;

setting a first target minimum intensity value; and

determining the second scaling factor based on the second scaling factor based on (i) the target maximum intensity value and (ii) the first target minimum intensity value.

12. The method according to claim 11 , the determining the plurality of second exposure times comprising:

capturing, with the camera, a third image of the surface of the object with the first of the plurality of second exposure times, the third image including the fringe patterns on the surface of the object;

identifying a subset of pixels in the third image corresponding to the surface of the object; and

determining a third of the plurality of second exposure times based on (i) the target maximum intensity value, (ii) the first target minimum intensity value, (iii) the second scaling factor, and (iv) the first of the plurality of second exposure times, in response to at least a threshold percentage of measured intensity values of pixels in the subset of pixels being less than first target minimum intensity value.

13. The method according to claim 12 , the determining the third of the plurality of second exposure times comprising:

determining a second target minimum intensity value based on (i) the first target minimum intensity value and (ii) the second scaling factor;

determining a third scaling factor based on (i) the target maximum intensity value and (ii) the second target minimum intensity value; and

determining the third of the plurality of second exposure times based on (i) the second scaling factor and (ii) the first of the plurality of second exposure times.