Patent ID: 7787132

Claim:
A method for achieving a robust, chromatic confocal technique for three-dimensional measurement of an object shape or shape and position of one or more objects, comprising the following components in the system: a planar array of polychromatic point light sources, the polychromatic point light sources being adapted to generate a multiplicity of light bundles, a beam splitter at least one element having a refractive power that is wavelength-dependent, at least one planar detector matrix in the path of a detection beam, upstream of which detector matrix means for lateral spectral splitting and means for focusing onto the detector matrix are disposed, and a measuring lens for illuminating and imaging the object, wherein spectrally defined reference light bundles are generated for chromatic calibration, which light bundles propagate along a beam path of the polychromatic point light sources and along a reference beam path and are again coupled into the beam leading to the detection means, and, following spectral splitting, are at least approximately focused onto the detector matrix as reference pinpoint images, which are implemented for spectral analysis of the object light and by which means laterally shifted submatrices are numerically defined on the detector matrix for spectral analysis of the object light, which sub-matrices are implemented as spectral cells for three-dimensional measurement of the shape of the object.