Three-dimensional profilometry based on shift estimation of projected fringe patterns

This paper presents a new approach to fringe pattern profilometry. In this paper, a generalized model describing the relationship between the projected fringe pattern and the deformed fringe pattern is derived, in which the projected fringe pattern can be arbitrary rather than being limited to being sinusoidal, as are those for the conventional approaches. Based on this model, what is believed to be a new approach is proposed to reconstruct the three-dimensional object surface by estimating the shift between the projected and deformed fringe patterns. Additionally, theoretical analysis, computer simulation, and experimental results are presented, which show how the proposed approach can significantly improve the measurement accuracy, especially when the fringe patterns are distorted by unknown factors.