Shape from focus system

A shape-from-focus method that uses different focus levels to obtain a sequence of object images is described. A sum-modified-Laplacian operator is developed to provide local measures of the quality of image focus. The operator is applied to the sequence of images of the object to determine a set of focus measures as each image point. A model is developed to describe the variation of focus measure values due to defocusing. This model is used by a depth estimation algorithm to interpolate focus measure values and obtain accurate depth estimates. A fully automated system that has been implemented using an optical microscope and tested on a variety of industrial samples is described.<
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