Modulation measuring profilometry with auto-synchronous phase shifting and vertical scanning.

To determine the shape of a complex object with vertical measurement mode and higher accuracy, a novel modulation measuring profilometry realizing auto-synchronous phase shifting and vertical scanning is proposed. Coaxial optical system for projection and observation instead of triangulation system is adopted to avoid shadow and occlusion. In the projecting system, sinusoidal grating is perpendicular to optical axis. For moving the grating along a direction at a certain angle to optical axis, 1D precision translation platform is applied to achieve purposes of both phase-shifting and vertical scanning. A series of fringe patterns with different modulation variations are captured by a CCD camera while scanning. The profile of the tested object can be reconstructed by the relationship between the height values and the modulation distributions. Unlike the previous method based on Fourier transform for 2D fringe pattern, the modulation maps are calculated from the intensity curve formed by the points with definite pixel coordinates in the captured fringe patterns. The paper gives the principle of the proposed method, the set-up of measurement system and the method for system calibration. Computer simulation and experiment results proved its feasibility.