An Image-based Laser Triangulation Width Model Applied in Sawn Lumber’s External Face Measurement

Abstract

The yield of sawn lumber has been largely governed by the identification accuracy of the external face width. However, the traditional method cannot measure the external face width with high accuracy and low error. In view of this, an image-based laser-triangulation width measurement model was established to measure the width of sawn lumber’s external face in an effort to overcome the deficiency of the traditional method. A hypothesis was established from the theoretical model, as follows: when the laser line is cast on the external face and the reflected light is captured by the camera with a certain angle, the width resolution will be the least affected and will even depend on the resolution of the camera under precise conditions. Data from contrasting experiments suggested that a particular angle has a width-detection error 0.15% and accuracy 0.177 mm, which absolutely satisfies the need of wood industry detection online. Furthermore, this paper gives a theoretical proof of conjecture from the perspective of optical principles and mathematical analysis.