Structured light generating device and measuring system and method

The present disclosure is based on, and claims priority from Taiwan Application Serial Number 104129620, filed on Sep. 8, 2015, and the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

The present disclosure relates to a structured light generating device and a measuring system and method.

3D printing is quite popular nowadays, which fabricates a 3D object by superimposing 2D patterns layer by layer.

Since the process for fabricating a 3D object is time-consuming and has low precision and repeatability nowadays, a measuring system is required to measure topography of each layer in two dimensions and variation of height in a third dimension so as to ensure the quality of the 3D object.

However, due to an insufficient resolution of a current available measuring system, it is difficult to monitor the topography and height variation of the 3D object and measure flatness of spread powder on a measuring surface (2D) of the 3D object, which adversely affects the quality and yield of the 3D object.

Further, in order to fabricate a 3D object having N layers, a current available measuring system generally performs 2N operations to capture images of N measuring surfaces and N reference surfaces, thereby obtaining the height variation of each layer of the object.

Furthermore, an image defect algorithm such as singular value decomposition (SVD) or Hilbert-Huang transform (HHT) is usually used to analyze the flatness of spread powder on the 3D object, which requires a large number of data operations to obtain background information and defective images.

A structured light generating device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure comprises a light modulating element configured to receive a projection light beam and modulate the projection light beam into a first structured light beam having a pattern; and a light shifting element corresponding to the light modulating element and configured to receive and shift the first structured light beam to generate a second structured light beam having the pattern, wherein a shift difference exists between the first structured light beam and the second structured light beam, and the first structured light beam and the second structured light beam are superimposed to form a superimposed structured light beam.

A measuring system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure comprises a structured light generating device and an image capturing device. The structured light generating device comprises: a light modulating element configured to receive a projection light beam and modulate the projection light beam into a first structured light beam having a pattern; and a light shifting element corresponding to the light modulating element and configured to receive and shift the first structured light beam to generate a second structured light beam having the pattern, wherein a shift difference exists between the first structured light beam and the second structured light beam, and the first structured light beam and the second structured light beam are superimposed to form a superimposed structured light beam for being projected onto an object to be measured. The image capturing device is configured to capture a structured light image presented by the superimposed structured light beam on the object.

A measuring method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure comprises: providing a measuring system comprising a structured light generating device and an image capturing device, wherein the structured light generating device has a light modulating element and a corresponding light shifting element; receiving and modulating, by the light modulating element, a projection light beam into a first structured light beam having a pattern; receiving and shifting, by the light shifting element, the first structured light beam to generate a second structured light beam having the pattern, wherein a shift difference exists between the first structured light beam and the second structured light beam, and the first structured light beam and the second structured light beam are superimposed to form a superimposed structured light beam for being projected onto an object to be measured. The image capturing device captures a structured light image presented by the superimposed structured light beam on the object.

A light modulating element according to an embodiment of the present disclosure modulates a projection light beam into a first structured light beam having a pattern, and a light shifting element shifts the first structured light beam to generate a second structured light beam having the pattern. The first structured light beam and the second structured light beam are superimposed to form a superimposed structured light beam, thereby improving the resolution.

A structured light generating device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure can be used to measure an object (3D object) fabricated by a 3D printing device. In one embodiment, height variation of each layer of the object or flatness of spread powder on the object can be analyzed through the superimposed structured light beam so as to improve the quality and yield of the object.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a measuring system having a structured light generating device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a measuring system having a structured light generating device according to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 3A and 3B are schematic diagrams showing a first structured light beam, a second structured light beam and a superimposed structured light beam according to the present disclosure, wherein FIG. 3B shows enlarged views of portions of the first and second structured light beams in a region R indicated by a dotted boundary line in FIG. 3A ;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing application of the measuring system having the structured light generating device of the present disclosure to a 3D printing device;

FIGS. 5A-5B, 6 and 7 are schematic diagrams showing measurement of height variation of an object by the measuring system having the structured light generating device according to the present disclosure, wherein FIG. 5A is a partial view of FIG. 4 ; FIG. 5B is a partial view of FIG. 5A ; and FIGS. 6 and 7 show different methods for calculating the height variation of the object;

FIGS. 8, 9A and 9B are schematic diagrams showing measurement of flatness of spread powder on the object by the measuring system having the structured light generating device according to the present disclosure, wherein FIG. 8 is a partial view of FIG. 4 , and FIGS. 9A and 9B show different structured light images presented by a superimposed structured light beam on the object; and

FIG. 10 is a schematic flow diagram showing a measuring method of the present disclosure.

The following illustrative embodiments are provided to illustrate the present disclosure. These and other advantages and effects can be apparent to those in the art after reading this specification. It should be noted that all the drawings are not intended to limit the present disclosure. Various modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit of the present disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a measuring system 1 having a structured light generating device 2 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a measuring system 1 having a structured light generating device 2 according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. FIGS. 3A and 3B are schematic diagrams showing a first structured light beam A 3 , a second structured light beam A 4 and a superimposed structured light beam A 5 according to the present disclosure, wherein FIG. 3B shows enlarged views of portions of the first structured light beam A 3 and the second structured light beam A 4 in a region R indicated by a dotted boundary line in FIG. 3A .

Referring to FIG. 1 or FIG. 2 , a measuring system 1 has a structured light generating device 2 , an image capturing device 3 and a computing device 4 . The structured light generating device 2 has a light modulating element 24 (e.g., a light intensity modulating element) and a light shifting element 25 . The light modulating element 24 receives a projection light beam A 2 and modulates the projection light beam A 2 into a first structured light beam A 3 having a pattern. The light shifting element 25 corresponds to the light modulating element 24 to receive and shift the first structured light beam A 3 so as to generate a second structured light beam A 4 having the pattern.

Referring to FIG. 1 or FIG. 2 , the light modulating element 24 can be a digital micro-mirror device (DMD), a liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) element or a grating. The light shifting element 25 can be a transparent plate or a glass plate (as shown in FIG. 1 ), a reflecting mirror (as shown in FIG. 2 ), or a double refracting crystal. The pattern of the first structured light beam A 3 and the second structured light beam A 4 is a stripe pattern F (as shown in FIG. 9A ), a checkerboard pattern or a dot array pattern. The computing device 4 can be a computer, an ALU (Arithmetic Logic Unit), a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or a processor.

Referring to FIGS. 3A and 3B , a shift difference D 1 is formed between the first structured light beam A 3 and the second structured light beam A 4 , and the first structured light beam A 3 and the second structured light beam A 4 are superimposed to form a superimposed structured light beam A 5 . Further, the first structured light beam A 3 , the second structured light beam A 4 and the superimposed structured light beam A 5 can be a digital structured light beam A 3 ′, a digital structured light beam A 4 ′ and a digital superimposed structured light beam A 5 ′, respectively.

For example, referring to FIG. 3A , the first structured light beam A 3 and the second structured light beam A 4 have sine waveforms. Referring to FIG. 3B , each of the first digital structured light beam A 3 ′ and the second digital structured light beam A 4 ′ has nine pixels with different intensities (from 1 to 5 to 1). The shift difference D 1 between the first digital structured light beam A 3 ′ and the second digital structured light beam A 4 ′ can be less than one pixel. For example, the shift difference D 1 between the first digital structured light beam A 3 ′ and the second digital structured light beam A 4 ′ is 0.5 pixel. The first digital structured light beam A 3 ′ and the second digital structured light beam A 4 ′ are superimposed to form the superimposed structured light beam A 5 ′. As such, the superimposed structured light beam A 5 ′ has 19 pixels with different intensities (from 1 to 10 to 1), thereby improving the resolution.

Referring to FIG. 1 or FIG. 2 , the structured light generating device 2 further has a light emitting element 21 and a corresponding light uniformizing module 22 . The light emitting element 21 emits a light beam A 1 according to an optical axis C 1 and the light uniformizing module 22 uniformly transforms the light beam A 1 into the projection light beam A 2 . The light beam A 1 can be an infrared light beam, a visible light beam or a single wavelength laser light beam.

Referring to FIG. 1 , the structured light generating device 2 further has a beam splitter 23 corresponding to the light uniformizing module 22 and positioned between the light modulating element 24 and the light shifting element 25 (such as a glass plate). The beam splitter 23 receives the projection light beam A 2 from the light uniformizing module 22 and reflects the projection light beam A 2 into the light modulating element 24 according to an optical axis C 2 perpendicular to the optical axis C 1 . The light modulating element 24 modulates the projection light beam A 2 into the first structured light beam A 3 and reflects the first structured light beam A 3 . As such, the first structured light beam A 3 transmits through the beam splitter 23 and reaches an incident surface 251 of the light shifting element 25 , and the light shifting element 25 shifts the first structured light beam A 3 to generate the second structured light beam A 4 .

In one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1 , the incident surface 251 of the light shifting element 25 is not perpendicular to the first structured light beam A 3 from the light modulating element 24 (or the beam splitter 23 ). A small angle (less than 30 degrees, for example) is formed between the first structured light beam A 3 and the second structured light beam A 4 inside the light shifting element 25 . The first structured light beam A 3 and the second structured light beam A 4 on a light emitting surface 252 of the light shifting element 25 are parallel to one another and have a shift difference D 1 therebetween, as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B , and the first structured light beam A 3 and the second structured light beam A 4 are superimposed to form the superimposed structured light beam A 5 .

Referring to FIG. 1 , the structured light generating device 2 further has a focusing lens group 27 corresponding to the light shifting element 25 for focusing the superimposed structured light beam A 5 on a measuring surface 51 of an object 5 to be measured.

In another embodiment, referring to FIG. 2 , the structured light generating device 2 has a beam splitter 23 positioned between the light modulating element 24 and the light shifting element 25 (such as a reflecting mirror), and the light modulating element 24 corresponds to the light uniformizing module 22 . A portion of the first structured light beam A 3 from the light modulating element 24 transmits through the beam splitter 23 and reaches a reflecting surface 253 of the light shifting element 25 , and the light shifting element 25 shifts the first structured light beam A 3 to generate the second structured light beam A 4 .

In one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2 , the reflecting surface 253 of the light shifting element 25 is not perpendicular to the first structured light beam A 3 from the light modulating element 24 (or the beam splitter 23 ). The first structured light beam A 3 is reflected by the reflecting surface 253 to generate the second structured light beam A 4 , and a small angle (less than 30 degrees, for example) is formed between the first structured light beam A 3 and the second structured light beam A 4 on the reflecting surface 253 . The second structured light beam A 4 from the reflecting surface 253 is further reflected by the beam splitter 23 .

Referring to FIG. 2 , the structured light generating device 2 further has a reflecting mirror 26 corresponding to the beam splitter 23 for receiving another portion of the first structured light beam A 3 from the beam splitter 23 and reflecting the first structured light beam A 3 . As such, the first structured light beam A 3 transmits through the beam splitter 23 . The first structured light beam A 3 reflected by the reflecting mirror 26 and the second structured light beam A 4 reflected by the beam splitter 23 are parallel to one another and have a shift difference D 1 therebetween, as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B , and the first structured light beam A 3 and the second structured light beam A 4 are superimposed to form the superimposed structured light beam A 5 .

Referring to FIG. 2 , the structured light generating device 2 further has a focusing lens group 27 corresponding to the beam splitter 23 for focusing the superimposed structured light beam A 5 from the beam splitter 23 on a measuring surface 51 of an object 5 to be measured.

Further, referring to FIG. 1 or FIG. 2 , according to an optical axis C 3 , the image capturing device 3 captures a structured light image B (for example, a two-dimensional structured light image) presented by the superimposed structured light beam A 5 on the measuring surface 51 of the object 5 . An angle of about 60 degrees is formed between the optical axis C 2 of the structured light generating device 2 and the optical axis C 3 of the image capturing device 3 . The structured light generating device 2 and the image capturing device 3 can (1) project light perpendicularly and capture image obliquely, (2) project light obliquely and capture image perpendicularly, or (3) project light obliquely and capture image obliquely. The image capturing device 3 has a lens group 31 and a corresponding sensing element 32 for capturing the structured light image B of the object 5 . The sensing element 32 can be a photosensitive element or a photosensitive element array.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing application of the measuring system 1 having the structured light generating device 2 of the present disclosure to a 3D printing device 6 . FIGS. 5A-5B, 6 and 7 are schematic diagrams showing measurement of height variation of the object 5 by the measuring system 1 having the structured light generating device 2 according to the present disclosure, wherein FIG. 5A is a partial view of FIG. 4 ; FIG. 5B is a partial view of FIG. 5A ; and FIGS. 6 and 7 show different methods for calculating the height variation of the object 5 .

Referring to FIGS. 4 to 7 and FIG. 1 or FIG. 2 , the computing device 4 calculates the height variation of each layer of the object 5 according to the structured light image B captured by the image capturing device 3 . The object 5 is a 3D object fabricated by the 3D printing device 6 .

Referring to FIG. 4 , the 3D printing device 6 has a 3D printing probe 61 , a first lifting platform 62 , a second lifting platform 63 and a powder spreading element 64 . The 3D printing probe 61 has a laser 611 and a scanning mirror group 612 that generate a laser light beam E for processing or forming the object 5 . In other embodiments, the 3D printing probe 61 is an extrusion-molding probe. The first lifting platform 62 can lift the object 5 and powder 65 in a processing area 66 . The second lifting platform 63 can lift powder 65 in a holding area 67 . The powder spreading element 64 can spread the powder 65 of the holding area 67 onto the processing area 66 and the measuring surface 51 of the object 5 . The powder spreading element 64 can be a roller or a scraper.

Referring to FIGS. 5A, 5B and 6 , the computing device 4 uses the structured light image B of the measuring layer of the object 5 as a measuring surface and uses the structured light image B of a previous measuring layer as a reference surface so as to calculate the height variation of the measuring layer according to the reference surface and the measuring surface.

In one embodiment, the structured light generating device 2 projects the superimposed structured light beam A 5 on an initial surface (such as an upper surface) of the first lifting platform 62 and the image capturing device 3 captures the structured light image B of the initial surface of the first lifting platform 62 .

Then, a first layer L 1 of the object 5 is formed by the 3D printing device 6 . The structured light generating device 2 projects the superimposed structured light beam A 5 on the first layer L 1 and the image capturing device 3 captures the structured light image B 1 of the first layer L 1 . Further, the computing device 4 calculates the height difference between the first layer L 1 (i.e., the measuring layer) and the initial surface of the first lifting platform 62 through a 3D algorithm so as to obtain the height variation of the first layer L 1 (i.e., the measuring layer). The 3D algorithm can be a phase shifting method, a structured light spatial encoding method, a structured light time encoding method or a Fourier transform method.

Thereafter, a second layer L 2 of the object 5 is formed by the 3D printing device 6 . The structured light generating device 2 projects the superimposed structured light beam A 5 on the second layer L 2 and the image capturing device 3 captures the structured light image B 2 of the second layer L 2 . Further, the computing device 4 uses the structured light image B 2 of the second layer L 2 (i.e., the measuring layer) as a measuring surface and uses the structured light image B 1 of a previous measuring layer (i.e., the first layer L 1 ) as a reference surface to thereby calculate the height difference h 1,2 between the second layer L 2 (i.e., the measuring layer) and the first layer L 1 , and thus obtain the height variation of the second layer L 2 (i.e., the measuring layer).

Subsequently, a third layer L 3 of the object 5 is formed by the 3D printing device 6 . The structured light generating device 2 projects the superimposed structured light beam A 5 on the third layer L 3 and the image capturing device 3 captures the structured light image B 3 of the third layer L 3 . Further, the computing device 4 uses the structured light image B 3 of the third layer L 3 (i.e., the measuring layer) as a measuring surface and uses the structured light image B 2 of a previous measuring layer (i.e., the second layer L 2 ) as a reference surface to thereby calculate the height difference h 2,3 between the third layer L 3 (i.e., the measuring layer) and the second layer L 2 , and thus obtain the height variation of the third layer L 3 (i.e., the measuring layer).

In such a way, the height variation of each layer (from the first layer L 1 to the n th layer Ln of the object 5 ) is obtained.

According to the above-described method (layer by layer), the structured light images B of a measuring layer and a previous measuring layer are used as a measuring surface and a reference surface, respectively, to thereby measure the height variation of the measuring layer. As such, if the object 5 has n layers, the image capturing device 3 needs to perform n+1 operations to capture n+1 structured light images B so as for the computing device 4 to calculate the height variation of each layer of the object 5 . Compared with the prior art that needs 2n operations to capture images of n measuring surfaces and n reference surfaces, the present disclosure reduces the number of image capturing times and increases the computing speed.

Referring to FIG. 7 , the computing device 4 calculates the height variation of each layer of the object 5 according to equation (1):

h m,m+1 ( x,y )= h k,m+1 ( x,y )− h k,m ( x,y )  (1)

wherein h m,m+1 represents the height difference between the structured light image Bm+1 of a m+1 th layer of the object and the structured light image Bm of a m th layer of the object 5 , m and k represent the m th layer and the k th layer of the object 5 , respectively, and x and y represent x and y coordinates of the object, respectively.

For example, in the case of h 6,7 (x,y)=h 1,7 (x,y)−h 1,6 (x,y), it means that the height variation of the seventh layer L 7 (m=6, m+1=7) of the object 5 is to be measured. The computing device 4 uses the structured light image B 1 of the first layer L 1 (k=1) of the object as a reference surface and subtracts the height difference h 1,6 between the structured light images B 6 of the sixth layer L 6 and the first layer L 1 from the height difference h 1,7 between the structured light images B 7 of the seventh layer L 7 and the first layer L 1 so as to obtain the height variation of the seventh layer L 7 of the object 5 .

Therefore, referring to FIG. 7 , if the height difference between two adjacent layers of the object 5 is not significant, the equation (1) can be used to increase the distance between the measuring surface and the reference surface of the object so a to improve the resolution. Further, an interpolation or subtraction method is used to easily obtain the height variation of each layer of the object 5 .

FIGS. 8, 9A and 9B are schematic diagrams showing measurement of flatness of the spread powder 65 on the object 5 by the measuring system 1 having the structured light generating device 2 according to the present disclosure, wherein FIG. 8 is a partial view of FIG. 4 ; and FIGS. 9A and 9B show different structured light images B presented by the superimposed structured light beam A 5 on the object 5 .

Referring to FIGS. 8, 9A and 9B and FIG. 4 , the computing device 4 analyzes the flatness of the spread powder 65 on the measuring surface 51 of the object 5 according to the structured light image B of the image capturing device 3 .

In one embodiment, the powder spreading element 64 of the 3D printing device 6 spreads powder 65 on the measuring surface 51 of the object 5 . The structured light generating device 2 projects the superimposed structured light beam A 5 on the powder 65 , and the image capturing device 3 captures the structured light image B (for example, a 2D structured light image) presented by the superimposed structured light beam A 5 on the powder 65 . The computing device 4 calculates the displacement D 2 of the structured light image B through a 2D algorithm so as to analyze the flatness of the spread powder 65 .

Referring to FIGS. 9A and 9B , the structured light image B on the measuring surface 51 of the object 5 has a pattern of stripes F. Referring to FIG. 9A , if the stripes F have no displacement or have a displacement D 2 (as shown in FIG. 9B ) less than a threshold value, it can be determined that the spread powder 65 on the measuring surface 51 is flat, uniform or defect-free. On the other hand, referring to FIG. 9B , if the stripes F have a displacement D 2 at a portion D and the displacement D 2 is greater than the threshold value, it can be determined that the spread powder 65 on the measuring surface 51 is not flat (e.g., protrudes or recedes), not uniform or defective.

Therefore, compared with the prior art that analyzes the flatness of spread powder by using an image defect algorithm such as SVD or MIT and consequently requires a large number of data operations to obtain background image information and defective images, the present disclosure only needs to determine the displacement D 2 of the pattern (such as stripes F) of the structured light image B so as to easily and quickly analyze the flatness of the spread powder 65 .

FIG. 10 is schematic flow diagram showing a measuring method of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 10 in combination with FIGS. 1 to 9B , at step S 71 , a measuring system having a structured light generating device 2 , an image capturing device 3 and a computing device 4 is provided. The structured light generating device 2 has a light modulating element 24 and a corresponding light shifting element 25 . The light modulating element 24 can be a DMD, an LCOS element or a grating. The light shifting element 25 can be a transparent plate or a glass plate of FIG. 1 , a reflecting mirror of FIG. 2 , or a double refracting crystal. Then, the process goes to step S 72 .

At step S 72 , the light modulating element 24 receives a projection light beam A 2 and modulates the projection light beam A 2 into a first structured light beam A 3 having a pattern. Then, the process goes to step S 73 .

At step S 73 , the light shifting element 25 receives and shifts the first structured light beam A 3 so as to generate a second structured light beam A 4 having the pattern. A shift difference D 1 is formed between the first structured light beam A 3 and the second structured light beam A 4 , and the first structured light beam A 3 and the second structured light beam A 4 are superimposed to form a superimposed structured light beam A 5 that is further projected on an object 5 to be measured. The pattern of the first structured light beam A 3 and the second structured light beam A 4 can be a pattern of stripes F (as shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B ), a checkerboard pattern or a dot array pattern. Then, the process goes to step S 74 .

At step S 74 , the image capturing device 3 captures the structured light image B presented by the superimposed structured light beam A 5 on the object 5 . Then, the process goes to step S 75 .

At step S 75 , the computing device 4 analyzes height variation of each layer of the object 5 or flatness of spread powder 65 on a measuring surface 51 of the object 5 according to the structured light image B captured by the image capturing device 3 . The object 5 is a 3D object fabricated by a 3D printing device 6 .

Said analyzing height variation of each layer of the object 5 (layer by layer) includes: the computing device 4 calculating height variation of the measuring layer according to a reference subject and a measuring subject by using a structured light image of a measuring layer of the object 5 as the measuring subject and using a structured light image of a previous measuring layer of the object 5 as the reference subject.

In addition, said analyzing height variation of each layer of the object 5 (cross layer) can be performed according to the equation:

h m,m+1 ( x,y )= h k,m+1 ( x,y )− h k,m ( x,y )

wherein h m,m+1 represents the height difference between the structured light image B m+1 of a m+1 th layer of the object 5 and the structured light image Bm of a m th layer of the object 5 , m and k represent the m th layer and the k th layer of the object 5 , respectively, and x and y represent x and y coordinates of the object 5 , respectively.

Said analyzing flatness of spread powder 65 on a measuring surface 51 of the object 5 includes: a powder spreading element 64 of the 3D printing device 6 spreading powder 65 on the measuring surface 51 of the object 5 ; the structured light generating device 2 projecting the superimposed structured light beam A 5 on the powder 65 ; the image capturing device 3 capturing the structured light image B of the superimposed structured light beam A 5 on the powder 65 ; and the computing device 4 calculating displacement D 2 of the structured light image B so as to determine the flatness of the spread powder 65 .

According to the present disclosure, a light modulating element modulates a projection light beam into a first structured light beam having a pattern, and a light shifting element shifts the first structured light beam to generate a second structured light beam having the pattern, wherein the first structured light beam and the second structured light beam are superimposed to form a superimposed structured light beam, thereby improving the resolution.

Further, the structured light generating device of the present disclosure can be used to measure an object (e.g., a 3D object) fabricated by a 3D printing device. In one embodiment, height variation of each layer of the object or flatness of spread powder on the object can be analyzed through the superimposed structured light beam so as to improve the quality and yield of the object.

The above-described descriptions of the detailed embodiments are only to illustrate the preferred implementation according to the present disclosure, and it is not to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Accordingly, all modifications and variations completed by those with ordinary skill in the art should fall within the scope of the present disclosure defined by the appended claims.