Patent ID: 7502125

Claim:
A measuring apparatus, comprising: a projector that projects a fringe pattern; a camera that photographs an image; a generator that generates, at a time of calibration, from a photographed image of a fringe pattern projected by said projector onto each of a plurality of surfaces with distinct heights Z k , a first set including first tuples, each said first tuple comprising light-receiving-plane-coordinates (x, y) i,j of a light-receiving-point p i,j on a light receiving plane of said camera, light intensity l i,j,k of said light-receiving-point p i,j and the height Z k of the surface, wherein a number of said light-receiving-points in a longitudinal direction and a number of said light-receiving-points in a lateral direction are common to each of said surfaces; and a converter that converts, at said time of calibration, said light intensity L i,j,k to a phase angle φ i,j,k of the projected fringe pattern, and generates a second set including second tuples, to construct a rectangular grid by using each said second tuple as a node, each said second tuple comprising said light-receiving-plane-coordinates (x, y) i,j of said light-receiving-point p i,j on said light receiving plane, said phase angle φ i,j,k and the height Z k of the surface.