Phase Measuring Deflectometry: a new approach to measure specular free-form surfaces

We present a new method to measure specular free-form surfaces within seconds. We call the measuring principle ‘Phase Measuring Deflectometry’ (PMD). With a stereo based enhancement of PMD we are able to measure both the height and the slope of the surface. The basic principle is to project sinusoidal fringe patterns onto a screen located remotely from the surface under test and to observe the fringe patterns reflected via the surface. Any slope variations of the surface lead to distortions of the patterns. Using well-known phase-shift algorithms, we can precisely measure these distortions and thus calculate the surface normal in each pixel. We will deduce the method’s diffraction-theoretical limits and explain how to reach them. A major challenge is the necessary calibration. We solved this task by combining various photogrammetric methods. We reach a repeatability of the local slope down to a few arc seconds and an absolute accuracy of a few arc minutes. One important field of application is the measurement of the local curvature of progressive eyeglass lenses. We will present experimental results and compare these results with the theoretical limits.