<title>Solid-object digitizing system</title>

Abstract

This paper describes a method concerned with the design and construction of a systeL to measure and record discrete surface locations from actual physical objects. It also investigates different image processing techniques, compaction of graphical data algorithms and 3-D object reconstruction and manipulation, from a laser scanner for the reconstruction of the human soft tissue of the face out of the skull. It is a robotic laser ranging system that automatically generates three dimensional surface co-ordinates starting from homemorphic surfaced objects. The principle of the digitising process is based on triangulation between a laser point, illuminated on the surface of the object and two custom-built light sensors. Given the geometry of the system, one of the light sensors detects the small spot on the object and then calculates a representative point in Euclidean three space. A two degree-offreedom electro-mechanical system translates the laser and rotates the object in order to discretise the entire object. Representations of complex real objects have been generated in a relatively short time with very good resolution. For example, a human skull can be digitised, representing over 5000 surface points, in a little over one hour. The data representations can then be viewed and manipulated in real time on high performance graphics devices or viewed and then animated as a realistic image on raster graphics. The principal aim of this project is to develop Artificial Intelligence and Knowledge based system techniques to infer the depth of the soft tissue and its associated relationship with the skull.© (1990) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.