Abstract: Measuring a distance to a surface while compensating for variations in a transverse position and/or low speed displacement of the instrument. One method includes retrieving a predetermined transversal distance from a longitudinal feature at which to extract a relevant distance; retrieving a distance set; retrieving a position of the longitudinal feature relative to the distance set; extracting a range point at the predetermined transversal distance from the longitudinal feature; adding the extracted point to a longitudinal distance set. In another method, if two sensors are provided with an overlap in the transversal direction, extracting a range point at a predetermined transversal position; adding the extracted range point to a longitudinal distance set; retrieving a pitch angle of the instrument; calculating a local slope of the surface using an overlapping transversal point, the pitch angle and the separation length; calculating a height variation using the local slope and a longitudinal separation.

Abstract: A method and a system for the detection of Foreign Object Debris (FOD) on a surface of a transport infrastructure are described. The method comprises receiving 3D profiles of the surface from at least one 3D laser sensor, the 3D laser sensor including a camera and a laser line projector, the 3D laser sensor being adapted to be displaced to scan the surface of the transport infrastructure and acquire 3D profiles of the surface; analyzing the 3D profiles using a parametric surface model to determine a surface model of the surface; identifying pixels of the 3D profiles located above the surface using the surface model; generating a set of potential FOD by applying a threshold on the pixels located above the surface model to identify a set of at least one protruding object; providing detection information about the potential FOD.

Abstract: Measuring a distance to a surface while compensating for variations in a transverse position and/or low speed displacement of the instrument. One method includes retrieving a predetermined transversal distance from a longitudinal feature at which to extract a relevant distance; retrieving a distance set; retrieving a position of the longitudinal feature relative to the distance set; extracting a range point at the predetermined transversal distance from the longitudinal feature; adding the extracted point to a longitudinal distance set. In another method, if two sensors are provided with an overlap in the transversal direction, extracting a range point at a predetermined transversal position; adding the extracted range point to a longitudinal distance set; retrieving a pitch angle of the instrument; calculating a local slope of the surface using an overlapping transversal point, the pitch angle and the separation length; calculating a height variation using the local slope and a longitudinal separation.

Abstract: A system for detecting bluestain and rot in wood in a wood processing plant including a conveyor for conveying a piece of wood through a scanning area includes a scanning unit comprising a plurality of scanners arranged to scan a face of the piece of wood in a direction perpendicular to a conveying direction. Each of the scanners include a light for illuminating a point on the piece of wood; a collector for collecting light reflected from the piece of wood; a splitter for splitting the collected light into at least two beams; a filter for filtering out of each of the beams a wavelength associated with each of the beams, each of the wavelengths being different; a collector for collecting the filtered light, the collector being adapted to output a signal related to an intensity of the filtered light; and a comparator for comparing the output of each of the collector, the comparator being adapted to output a signal when a ratio between the signal between each of the collector exceeds a predetermined threshold.