Self-marking phase-stepping electronic speckle pattern interferometry (ESPI) for determining a phase map with least residues

Different from most of the electronic speckle pattern interferometry (ESPI) approaches, which involve the correlation fringe formulation followed by speckle noise elimination (or filtering), to develop a wrapped phase map, this study adopts the approach proposed by Creath in 1985 instead. However, Creath's approach is so critical of its applying interferograms, the influence of which is dependent on the robustness of the applied phase-shifting algorithm and the accuracy of the phase shifter. The self-marking technique proposed by Huang and Chou in 2000 is adopted herein to help overcome any unfavorable conditioning, including hysteresis, nonlinearity or plane tilting, of the pieozo-electrical transducer (PZT), to enable the successful implementation of the Creath's method. With its help, the whole phase stepping history of a practical work (i.e., an ESPI experiment for the present study) can be fully recorded and monitored. Thus, the required phase stepping frames can be accordingly decided and their further calculation will yield a phase map with least number of residues.     

General model to predict and correct errors in phase map interpretation and measurement for out-of-plane ESPI interferometers

Out-of-plane configurations used in electronic speckle pattern interferometry (ESPI), introduce phase error interpretation in extended target objects due to spatial variation of the sensitivity vector. In this paper, a general model to predict and correct the displacement measurement error and error phase map interpretation taking into account the target shape, illumination geometry, and in-plane displacement information, is presented. This model generalizes and extends previous analyses with respect to the sensitivity vector variations. The model is based on a relationship between variable sensitivity vector and the constant one. The importance of illumination geometry and in-plane displacement as factors that introduce the biggest error in the interpretation of the phase map are stressed. An analysis with practical parameters using divergent and collimated beams is presented. In order to predict and correct the error of phase interpretation, the finite element method should be used to obtain in-plane proportional factors to build up the correction function. The analysis shows that the error can be large for common configurations even when using collimated beam. To compute the measurement directly from the phase map, a general sensitivity function taking into account the shape and in-plane displacement information is naturally obtained from the presented analysis.     

A derivative based simplified phase tracker for a single fringe pattern demodulation

In this paper, a novel fringe demodulation method for the estimation of phase and its first-order derivative from a closed-fringe interferogram is proposed. The proposed method determines the phase derivatives in both x&y directions from fringe orientation and density. The phase derivatives are subsequently used to determine phase values using a novel simplified phase tracker. In the phase tracking model, the complexity of the cost function is reduced using predetermined derivatives so computation time required for phase tracking is reduced considerably. The proposed model is more robust while dealing with saddle points in fringes than the conventional phase tracker model. Hence it does not require any specialized scanning strategy. The proposed method is validated with simulated and experimental fringe patterns (obtained using electronic speckle pattern interferometry and optical holographic interferometry) and a comparison study is carried out with conventional regularized phase tracker. The simulation results show that the proposed method has good accuracy and requires less computation time than existing phase-tracking algorithms. The experimental results demonstrate the robustness of the proposed method against speckle noise and its practical applicability for static and dynamic applications.     

Reply to comment on “A new method for phase extraction from a single fringe pattern”

In response to the comment made by Ferrari on our previous paper [C.J. Tay, C. Quan, F.J. Yang, X.Y. He, Opt. Commun. 239 (2004) 251], we have the following clarifications to make.     

Line-based camera calibration with lens distortion correction from a single image

Camera calibration is a fundamental and important step in many machine vision applications. For some practical situations, computing camera parameters from merely a single image is becoming increasingly feasible and significant. However, the existing single view based calibration methods have various disadvantages such as ignoring lens distortion, requiring some prior knowledge or special calibration environment, and so on. To address these issues, we propose a line-based camera calibration method with lens distortion correction from a single image using three squares with unknown length. Initially, the radial distortion coefficients are obtained through a non-linear optimization process which is isolated from the pin-hole model calibration, and the detected distorted lines of all the squares are corrected simultaneously. Subsequently, the corresponding lines used for homography estimation are normalized to avoid the specific unstable case, and the intrinsic parameters are calculated from the sufficient restrictions provided by vectors of homography matrix. To evaluate the performance of the proposed method, both simulative and real experiments have been carried out and the results show that the proposed method is robust under general conditions and it achieves comparable measurement accuracy in contrast with the traditional multiple view based calibration method using 2D chessboard target.     

The separation of out-of-plane displacement from in-plane components by fringe carrier method based on large image-shearing ESPI

A fringe carrier method for separating out-of-plane displacement from in-plane components based on large image-shearing electronic speckle pattern interferometry (ESPI) is presented. If the test object is respectively illuminated by two expanded symmetric illuminations in large image-shearing ESPI, two interferometers are formed. Carrier fringe patterns can be introduced by tilting reference surface a small angle. The carrier fringe patterns are demodulated after deformation of the object. Two phase maps, which include out-of-plane and in-plane displacement, can be obtained by using Fourier transform. Then out-of-plane displacement can be easily separated from in-plane displacement by simple operation between two unwrapped phase distributions. The principle of spatial carrier frequency modulation in large image-shearing ESPI is discussed. A typical three-point-bending experiment is completed. Experimental results are offered. The results show that the method offers high visibility of carrier fringes. And the system presented does not need a special beam as a reference light and has simple optical setup.     

用于静态和动态平面内位移测量的剪切束电子斑纹图干涉术的相移和载波技术

报道了一种新颖的用于平面内位移测量的相移和载波技术。在剪切束电子斑纹图干涉度量术中，照明光束由棱镜分为两个波前，棱镜的侧面移动将引入相移。在棱镜后加一小角光楔，则光楔的转动产生载波条纹。棱镜或光楔的转动可由机械或电学机构精密控制。形变信息由数字图像处理算法，相位迭代和傅里叶变换法给出。文中介绍了理论及其实验演示的结果     

A dual-function ESPI system for the measurement of out-of-plane displacement and slope

A dual-function ESPI system is developed for the measurement of out-of-plane displacement and its slope change. The proposed system is convenient and also efficient to switch over from an out-of-plane sensitive configuration to shearography. A difference-of-phase method with a five-step algorithm is used for speckle fringe analysis.     

一种新的单幅条纹图的相位解调方法

基于非载波条纹图的条纹灰度分布的极值准确定位,提出了一种新的由单幅条纹图解调相位方法.该方法首先准确定位每个条纹灰度的极值包括最大和最小,再基于极值图将条纹的强度值分布线性地变换到-1和1之间,最后利用arcos反余弦取代传统的atan2反正切算法求出相位,结合极值图就能快速准确地解调出含有封闭条纹的条纹图相位.本方法仅用一幅条纹图,不需要传统的条纹定级和对分数级条纹插值与拟合,自动判别条纹相位变化的波谷,准确获得条纹相位分布.这一方法使光测法研究动态和瞬态问题成为可能,而不需引入载波法调制条纹.文中通过实例说明了本方法的处理过程.     

Improved wavelet transform algorithm for single image dehazing

Image dehazing to single color image remains a longstanding challenge in image processing. Because of light scattered by the suspended particles in the atmosphere, photographs taken in the foggy day look gray and lack visibility. How to improve the capacity for the clear image's structures and colors. Toward this objective, we explored the improved Wavelet Transform algorithm on image haze removal. Here, we propose a improved algorithm on image haze removal. Our method is to first apply wavelet transform to image dehazing, and then use Retinex (SSR) algorithm to enhance the color performance and to improve the color effect after applying wavelet transform to image dehazing, and finally get the desired haze-removed image. Experimental results show that this algorithm is effective and practical, and the effect is ideal.     

A new wavelet transform for reliability-guided phase unwrapping of optical fringe patterns

A new daughter wavelet definition for reliability-guided phase unwrapping of the optical fringe pattern is introduced. The new daughter wavelet definition is given by normalized mother wavelet with a new factor including a Gaussian function. The modulus of the wavelet transform coefficients, obtained by using daughter wavelet under this new daughter wavelet definition, includes not only modulation information but also local frequency information of the deformed fringe pattern. Therefore, it can be treated as a good parameter which represents the reliability of the reconstructed phase data. Mathematical demonstration of this parameter is given. Both the computer simulation and experiment reveal the validity of the proposed method.     

Reducing phase retrieval errors in Fourier analysis of 2-dimensional digital model interferograms

In order to measure the displacements of facets on a growing spherical Cu_2−δSe crystal with sub-nanometre resolution, we investigated the reliability and accuracy of standard method of Fourier analysis of digital laser interferograms. Guided by realistic experimental conditions (two-dimensional (2D) interferograms), starting from 2D model interferograms and using original custom designed Gaussian filtering window and multistage unwrapping procedure of the retrieved phase, we demonstrate for a considerable parameter range the non-negligible inherent phase retrieval error due to non-integer number of fringes within the digital image. Our results indicate an intermediate parameter range where the error is acceptably small. We introduce an algorithm modification that significantly reduces the error, especially for low and high fringe densities. In the experimentally most common case of diagonal fringes the reduced error is an order of magnitude smaller than for nearly one-dimensional case within almost entire parameter space.     

Transformation of phase to (x,y,z)-coordinates for the calibration of a fringe projection profilometer

In this work we present a phase to (x,y,z)-coordinates transformation method for the calibration of a fringe projection profilometer. Our technique is divided in two parts: (1) phase to z transformation (for axial calibration) based on the typical polynomial fitting which uses a flat plane placed at several z positions to measure the phase of the projected fringes. (2) Phase to x and y transformation (for transverse calibration) based on the use of a crossed gratings pattern and a Fourier phase measurement method to determine x and y coordinates at several z positions. As will be shown the use of the crossed gratings pattern and the Fourier phase measurement method for transverse calibration is advantageous in several aspects: an unique image can give us x and y information at once. It provides x and y coordinates at each pixel in the image avoiding the use of interpolation methods. We present some experimental results and explain the viability of the proposed technique.     

Study of a vibrating plate: comparison between experimental (ESPI) and analytical results

Real-time electronic speckle pattern interferometry (ESPI) was used for tuning and visualization of natural frequencies of a trapezoidal plate. The plate was excited to resonant vibration by a sinusoidal acoustical source, which provided a continuous range of audio frequencies. Fringe patterns produced during the time-average recording of the vibrating plate—corresponding to several resonant frequencies—were registered. From these interferograms, calculations of vibrational amplitudes by means of zero-order Bessel functions were performed in some particular cases. The system was also studied analytically. The analytical approach developed is based on the Rayleigh–Ritz method and on the use of non-orthogonal right triangular co-ordinates. The deflection of the plate is approximated by a set of beam characteristic orthogonal polynomials generated by using the Gram–Schmidt procedure. A high degree of correlation between computational analysis and experimental results was observed.     

Conversion from phase map to coordinate: Comparison among spatial carrier, Fourier transform, and phase shifting methods

For full-field phase measurement methods, many algorithms have been developed to extract a phase map from fringe image(s). Both phase wrapping and unwrapping algorithms have been extensively investigated by many researchers, but few papers can be found on how to calculate the coordinates of surface points from a phase map. This paper focuses on algorithms that show how a phase map can be used to calculate coordinates. Details are given for single image methods such as Fourier transform, spatial carrier methods, and multiple image methods like traditional phase-shifting methods. Algorithms that can be used to convert a phase map to coordinates and some issues related to these conversion algorithms are discussed. An artifact is measured using these phase measurement methods. The results show that using the correct algorithm to convert a phase map to coordinates is a key to obtaining accurate measurement results.     

The leveling of mask and wafer in proximity nanolithography using fringe pattern phase analysis

The fringe pattern phase analysis method is proposed for the leveling of mask and wafer in proximity lithography. The tilt between mask and wafer in the space is reflected in the tilted fringe pattern. The method combining the 2-D Fourier transform and 2-D Hanning window is proposed for processing the tilted fringe pattern. The offset and angle of tilt are extracted through phase analysis. Computer simulation and experiment are both performed to verify this method. The results indicate that the tilt of the mask and wafer in the space can be extracted with high accuracy through this method.     

由单幅图像恢复物体三维形状的应用研究

由阴影恢复物体表面形状的方法是计算机三维视觉领域中的一个重要分支。首先给出了利用多幅图像由阴影恢复物体表面三维形状算法的计算结果 ,并进行了详细分析 ,进而提出了针对单幅图像的改进算法 ,包括引入表面光滑约束、边界条件和误差的灰度加权调整等。利用合成图像验证了这种算法的准确性。最后结合实际焊接过程熔池成像特点 ,应用这种算法利用单幅焊接熔池图像成功地获取了焊接熔池表面三维形状     

Optical image conversion and encryption by diffraction,phase retrieval algorithm and incoherent superposition

In this paper, an optical encryption system is proposed based on tricolor principle, Fresnel diffraction, and phase iterative algorithms. Different from the traditional encryption system, the encrypted image of this system is a color image and the plaintext of it is a gray image, which can achieve the combination of a color image and a gray image and the conversion of one image to another image. Phase masks can be generated by using the phase iterative algorithms in this paper. The six phase masks and the six diffracting distances are all essential keys in the process of decryption, which can greatly enhance the system security. Numerical simulations are shown to prove the possibility and safety of the method.     

An autonomous surface discontinuity detection and quantification method by digital image correlation and phase congruency

Digital image correlation has been routinely used to measure full-field displacements in many areas of solid mechanics, including fracture mechanics. Accurate segmentation of the crack path is needed to study its interaction with the microstructure and stress fields, and studies of crack behaviour, such as the effect of closure or residual stress in fatigue, require data on its opening displacement. Such information can be obtained from any digital image correlation analysis of cracked components, but it collection by manual methods is quite onerous, particularly for massive amounts of data. We introduce the novel application of Phase Congruency to detect and quantify cracks and their opening. Unlike other crack detection techniques, Phase Congruency does not rely on adjustable threshold values that require user interaction, and so allows large datasets to be treated autonomously. The accuracy of the Phase Congruency based algorithm in detecting cracks is evaluated and compared with conventional methods such as Heaviside function fitting. As Phase Congruency is a displacement-based method, it does not suffer from the noise intensification to which gradient-based methods (e.g. strain thresholding) are susceptible. Its application is demonstrated to experimental data for cracks in quasi-brittle (Granitic rock) and ductile (Aluminium alloy) materials.     

Proposal for underwater structural analysis using the techniques of ESPI and digital holography

The purpose of this article is to study the application of the holographic interferometry techniques in the structural analysis of submarine environment. These techniques are widely used today, with applications in many areas. Nevertheless, its application in submarine environments presents some challenges. The application of two techniques, electronic speckle pattern interferometry (ESPI) and digital holography, comparison of advantages and disadvantages of each of them is presented. A brief study is done on the influence of water properties and the optical effects due to suspended particles as well as possible solutions to minimize these problems.