Abstract: A method for generating a three-dimensional image of an object, comprising receiving a set of input point cloud data from an imaging system, the set of input point cloud data comprising two or more input point clouds, determining, for each point in the respective input point clouds, a value of a quality parameter that reflects a degree of uncertainty in the three dimensional coordinates as specified for that point, generating an output point cloud for generating a three-dimensional representation of the object surface, wherein, for each point in the output point cloud, the coordinates of the respective point are computed based on the coordinate values of the points in the input point clouds, wherein the extent to which the coordinate values in the respective input point clouds are taken into consideration in the computation is determined based on the values of the quality parameter associated with those respective points.

Abstract: A method for determining one or more groups of exposure settings to use in a 3D image acquisition process carried out with an imaging system, the 3D image acquisition process comprising capturing one or more sets of image data on the image sensor using the respective groups of exposure settings, wherein the one or more sets of image data are such as to allow the generation of one or more 3D point clouds defining the three-dimensional coordinates of points on the surface(s) of one or more objects being imaged, each group of exposure settings specifying a value for one or more parameters of the imaging system, wherein the method comprises identifying one or more candidate groups of exposure settings and selecting from the candidate groups of exposure settings, one or more groups of exposure settings that satisfy one or more optimization criteria.

Abstract: Imaging unit for obtaining a three-dimensional image of an object area, comprising an image sensor constituted by a matrix of sensor elements and a focusing unit for providing an image of said object area on the image sensor, the matrix being covered by a color filter array, and a projection unit for projecting a predetermined pattern toward the object area, the focusing unit and the projection unit having optical axes differing with a known angle, wherein the projection unit is adapted to project a time sequence of patterns toward the object area, the pattern sequence being chosen so as to uniquely define a position along at least one axis perpendicular to the projection axis, over the period defined by the illumination, wherein each sensor element in said matrix is connected to a processing branch adapted to detect the variations in the illumination sequence measured at each sensor element, and calculating from the known angle between the projection and imaging axes, the position in the sensor matrix, and t

Abstract: Imaging unit for obtaining a three-dimensional image of an object area, comprising an image sensor constituted by a matrix of sensor elements and a focusing unit for providing an image of said object area on the image sensor, the matrix being covered by a color filter array, and a projection unit for projecting a predetermined pattern toward the object area, the focusing unit and the projection unit having optical axes differing with a known angle, wherein the projection unit is adapted to project a time sequence of patterns toward the object area, the pattern sequence being chosen so as to uniquely define a position along at least one axis perpendicular to the projection axis, over the period defined by the illumination, wherein each sensor element in said matrix is connected to a processing branch adapted to detect the variations in the illumination sequence measured at each sensor element, and calculating from the known angle between the projection and imaging axes, the position in the sensor matrix, and t

Abstract: A method for generating a three-dimensional image of an object, comprising receiving a set of input point cloud data from an imaging system, the set of input point cloud data comprising two or more input point clouds, determining, for each point in the respective input point clouds, a value of a quality parameter that reflects a degree of uncertainty in the three dimensional coordinates as specified for that point, generating an output point cloud for generating a three-dimensional representation of the object surface, wherein, for each point in the output point cloud, the coordinates of the respective point are computed based on the coordinate values of the points in the input point clouds, wherein the extent to which the coordinate values in the respective input point clouds are taken into consideration in the computation is determined based on the values of the quality parameter associated with those respective points.