Patent ID: 8139230

Claim:
A method for positioning an object on an optical sensor system for acquiring a surface thereof, the optical sensor system having a set of motors for rotating the object around a motor axis perpendicular to an optical axis of the optical sensor system and for translating the object in X, Y and Z directions, the method comprising: (a) determining a motor axis position relative to a reference position in a reference coordinate system; (b) positioning at least one of said optical sensor system and said object to correspond to a desired position for an acquisition and acquiring a relief map of an area in a field of view of the optical sensor system; (c) computing a normal representative of a topography of the relief map of the area; (d) determining an angle difference between the normal and the optical axis of the optical sensor system and comparing the angle difference to a threshold angle to determine if a surface of the area is perpendicular to the optical axis of the sensor system; and (e) if the angle difference is greater than a threshold angle, dynamically computing a set of repositioning parameters using the motor axis position, for rotating the object to obtain a new difference angle less than said threshold angle and translating said object to reposition said area in said field of view after said rotating has displaced said area.