Patent ID: 7848561

Claim:
A method for determining one or more capabilities of an on-line sensor comprising: receiving, at the on-line sensor, light that has interacted with a product being produced by a production process; converting the received light into electrical signals; analyzing the electrical signals to determine one or more characteristics of a texture of the product being produced; generating an image of a sample texture, the image providing a three-dimensional surface topography of a non-homogeneous medium, the image having one or more known characteristics associated with the product being produced; transferring the image to the on-line sensor; analyzing data generated by the on-line sensor to determine one or more on-line measured characteristics of the image; transferring the image to a laboratory sensor; analyzing data generated by the laboratory sensor to determine one or more laboratory measured characteristics of the image; and comparing the one or more known characteristics of the image to the one or more on-line measured characteristics of the image and to the one or more laboratory measured characteristics of the image to determine which one of the laboratory sensor and the on-line sensor is more accurate, wherein the comparing comprises both qualitative and quantitative comparisons.