In-process surface profile assessment of rotary machined timber using a dynamic photometric stereo technique

Machining operations have advanced in speed and there is an increasing demand for higher quality surface finish. It is therefore necessary to develop real-time surface inspection techniques, which will provide sensory information for controlling the machining processes. This paper describes a practical method for real-time analysis of planed wood using the photometric stereo (PS) technique. Earlier research revealed that the technique is very effective in assessing surface waviness on static wood samples. In this paper, the PS method is extended to real industrial applications where samples are subjected to rapid movements. Surface profiles extracted from the dynamic PS method are compared with those from the static measurements and the results show that there is a high correlation between the two methods.