Volumetric Interferometry Using Spherical Wave Interference for Three-dimensional Coordinate Metrology

Abstract

We present a new method of volumetric interferometer, which is intended to measure the three-dimensional coordinates of a moving object in a simultaneous way with a single optical setup. The method is based on the principles of phase-measuring interferometry with phase shifting. Two diffraction point sources, which are made of the polished ends of single-mode optical fibers are embedded on the object. Two spherical wavefronts emanate from the diffraction point sources and interfere with each other within the measurement volume. One wavefront is phase-shifted by elongating the corresponding fiber using a PZT extender. A CCD array sensor fixed at the stationary measurement station detects the resulting interference field. The measured phases are then related to the three-dimensional location of the object with a set of non-liner equations of Euclidean distance, from which the complete set of three-dimensional spatial coordinates of the object is determined through rigorous numerical computation based upon the least square error minimization.