Variable-resolution video moire error map system for inspection of continuously manufactured objects

Moire techniques can be a powerful tool to determine deviation of a manufactured shape from a desired shape. In a traditional moire system, distorted gratings on an object are viewed through an undistorted grating. The moire contours that result represent equal depth contours over the entire viewed surface. By generating the moire patterns in video, it is possible to view the distorted gratings on a test object through a set of gratings that has been distorted by a similar but perfect object. The output is then a set of moire contours that corresponds to the differences between the two surfaces. This difference or error map eliminates much of the unnecessary information generated in traditional moire inspection and thus becomes a valuable tool for comparisons between an imperfect test object and a manufacturing standard. We have developed a variable resolution video system for creating this error map using a Michelson interferometer to generate the gratings. We have successfully applied this system to damage detection on a long, continuous lengths of pipe by having two side-by-side cameras looking at different sections of pipe and also by having one camera's view filtered with a video-taped recording of an undamaged section of the pipe.© (1993) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.