A Depth From Defocus Measurement System Using a Liquid Lens Objective for Extended Depth Range

A novel depth from defocus (DFD) measurement system is presented, where the extension of the measurement range is performed using an emergent technology based on liquid lenses. A suitable set of different focal lengths, obtained by properly changing the liquid lens supply voltage, provides multiple camera settings without duplicating the system elements or using moving parts. A simple and compact setup, with a single camera/illuminator coaxial assembly, is obtained. The measurement is based on an active DFD technique using modulation measurement profilometry for the estimation of the contrast at each image point as a function of the depth range. Two different measurement methods are proposed, both based on a combination of multiple contrast curves, each derived at a specific focal length. In the first method (intensity contrast method), the depth information is recovered directly from the contrast curves, whereas in the second (differential contrast method), the depth is measured using contrast curve pairs. We obtained a measurement sigma(0) of 0.55 mm over a depth range of 60 mm with the intensity contrast method (0.92% of the total range) and an sigma(0) of 0.76 mm over a depth range of 135 mm with the differential contrast method (0.56% of the total range). Thus, the intensity contrast method is within the state-of-the-art DFD systems, whereas the differential contrast method allows, sigma(0) being almost equal, a remarkable extension of the depth range.