Extraction and recognition of 3-dimensional information by projecting a pair of slit-ray beams

A method is presented for extracting 3-D information of an object which has both Lambertian and specular components, such as metals, using a pair of slit-ray beams. Although the traditional slit-ray beam projection method obtains inaccurate distance information using specular slit-ray beam or mirror image, the method proposed solves the problem and calculates not only the position vector but also the normal vector, both of which are sent to the recognition procedure. The intersection points of slit-ray beams coming from two directions are classified by using these vectors, enabling the surfaces of an object to be identified and the outlines of them to be extracted. An experimental system is described that supports the effectiveness of this method.<>