Three-dimensional measurement system using a cylindrical mirror

Abstract

We propose a novel method for measuring a whole three-dimensional shape of an object with a simple structured system. The proposed system consists of a single CCD camera and a cylindrical mirror. A target object is placed inside the cylindrical mirror and an image is captured by the camera from above. There are two or more points that have the same origin in the captured image: one is observed directly, and the other is observed via the mirror. This situation means that a point is observed by a real camera and virtual cameras at the same time. Therefore, the three-dimensional shape of the object can be obtained using stereo vision. We simulated an actual experimental situation and measured the three-dimensional shape of the object from the simulated image, and the results have demonstrated that the proposed method is useful for measuring the whole three-dimensional shape. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2005.