Patent ID: 6525333
Filing Date: 2003-02-25
Classification: G01N

Abstract:
A system for inspecting an object having an annular opening comprising:a plurality of cameras that acquire grayscale image data of arcuate sectors that together comprise a circumferential area within the opening; and a processor connected to the plurality of cameras for receiving the grayscale image data and determining defects within the object using a pipeline process of independent processing stages on image data with a rules based knowledge base by acquiring true and false hits in a first processing stage based on a low sensitivity that is set with contrast of grayscale images, and in a subsequent processing stage, determining contrast regions in a computer memory space from the true and false hits and grouping contrast pairs by proximity, analyzing contrast pairs of about equal contrast that are close to each other to determine changes in contrast intensity, recording groups of contrast changes in a knowledge base while also processing image data to determine how much light is in a specific region to determine if adequate light was present, and in a judgment stage, processing the contrast changes in a rules based knowledge base to determine defects as coherent structural defects.