A limitation of the robots being increasingly deployed in industrial and manufacturing environments is the inability of these machines to recognize transparent objects. The capacity of such automated systems to gauge the 3D shapes of glass objects and glossy surfaces is expected to improve with the advent of a sensor designed to detect objects with reflective or light-absorbing surfaces.

The Glass360Dgree system engineered at Germany's Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering (IOF) incorporates a high-energy carbon dioxide infrared laser and two highly-sensitive thermal imaging cameras. The combination of infrared laser projection and thermography enables reliable 3D detection of transparent objects.

After the infrared laser heats the object to be measured at 3º C, the cameras determine variations in the object’s heat signature from two angles to ascertain its 3D shape and size. As the absorbed thermal energy remains on the object for fractions of a second, there is no risk of the item melting or burning.

The Glass360Dgree measurement technology will be presented at an automation and metrology session at the Hannover Messe event, scheduled for May 30 to June 2, 2022, and at Control International Trade Fair for Quality Assurance from May 3 to 6, 2022, both in Germany.

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