A real-time optical measurement system

Measurement of the dynamics of flexible structures is difficult because the motion is often complex and the structures are not well suited to the attachment of sensors. As a result, non-contact optical systems are used. However, optical systems produce large amounts of data which make their use in real-time measurement difficult. Conventional computers are not well suited to the processing requirements associated with data from optical systems. In this thesis, algorithms and architectures to reduce the data bandwidth of an optical measurement system are investigated. Simulations of the ability of the algorithms to find a target on a linear-array charge-coupled device (CCD) camera are performed. The running maximum algorithm provides the best accuracy and speed and therefore is recommended. A real-time architecture to implement the running maximum algorithm is developed. The architecture allows the optical system to operate at 9700 frames/second. Experimental results from a prototype system show very good accuracy for both static and dynamic measurements.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Electrical Engineering

Department dc:contributor.department

Electrical Engineering

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

1990

Author dc:creator

• Colbert, Michael Anestis

Chairs dc:contributor.committeechair

• Nayfeh, Ali H.
• McKeeman, John C.

Committee member dc:contributor.committeemember

• Armstrong, James R.

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language.iso

en

Dc Identifier Other

etd-04072009-040416

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/41903