[Objective] Laser profilers are widely utilized in various fields owing to their high precision, noncontact, and low cost. However, the lens plane for traditional laser profilers is parallel to the imaging plane. Thus, the high-precision measurement range of a traditional laser profiler is limited by the camera's restricted depth of view. To address this issue, this study optimizes the traditional laser profiler design and proposes a calibration method. [Methods] Specifically, this study establishes a constant focus optical path in the laser profiler by tilting the lens to meet the Scheimpflug condition, wherein the imaging, lens, and light planes intersect in a single line, called the Scheimpflug line. Furthermore, the traditional imaging model is not suitable for the detection principle of the laser profiler; hence, the corresponding calibration ideas must be improved and optimized. This study proposes a complete and effective calibration method for the laser profiler, which can be divided into two parts: camera calibration and light plane calibration. For the camera calibration part, a tilt camera imaging model is established based on the traditional camera imaging model using a two-dimensional tilt angle. A method of obtaining the initial parameters and a nonlinear optimization process for the parameters are presented to rapidly obtain the tilt camera imaging model parameters. For the light plane calibration part, a calibration target, which has a double-step shape, is designed. Precise subpixel coordinates of the feature points on the laser profiler are obtained through image processing algorithms by collecting the contour image of the calibration target once the laser profiler is used. The light plane parameters are acquired using the subpixel coordinates for the least squares fitting, which quickly completes the light plane calibration. This study also designs a three-degree-of-freedom automatic calibration device to address various issues, including the removal of the laser profiler's filter, the manual adjustment of the laser profiler's pose, and the complex operating procedures in traditional calibration experiments. [Results] This study used the automatic calibration device to complete the calibration and accuracy evaluation experiments and verify the correctness and effectiveness of the proposed scheme. The experimental results revealed of the following: (1) The laser profiler designed herein could clearly capture all the feature points on the light plane, thereby effectively solving the limited measurement range problem of the traditional laser profiler. (2) The reprojection errors of the laser profiler's camera were 0.487 with the traditional camera calibration method and 0.129 with the camera calibration method. (3) The calibration target could complete the light plane calibration by collecting only one image according to the expected goal. (4) After completing all the calibration steps, the average detection deviation of the laser profiler for measuring the size of the standard ceramic gauge block was approximately 0.028 0 mm. [Conclusions] Thus, this study significantly improves the profiler's high-precision measurement range by establishing a constant focus optical path in the laser profiler. A calibration method with higher accuracy and efficiency is proposed herein for the laser profiler. The detection accuracy of the calibrated laser profiler meets the actual industrial requirements. © 2024 Tsinghua University. All rights reserved.
