Machsupport Forum
Mach Discussion => Video P*r*o*b*i*n*g => Topic started by: TomHubin on March 23, 2009, 11:47:05 PM
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I have posted my first 3d Video Probe plugin. Calling it Scan3d.dll. No documentation yet. Iit should show the camera view.
http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php/topic,10958.new.html#new
Tom Hubin
thubin@earthlink.net
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Tom
I downloaded the plug in and running it with a Logitech Pro 9000 I am very impressed with the resolution and sensitivity. I attended your demo at Cabin Fever but lack most of the basics to connect any of the dots and get anywhere further with this technology. Please keep going and I hope we get enough users interacting I can learn what I need to scan and produce an image.
Charlie
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Hello Charlie,
> I downloaded the plug in and running it with a Logitech Pro 9000 I am very
> impressed with the resolution and sensitivity.
Experiment with the Format and Source buttons to change the camera setup. The display images show as 320x240 resolution but the calculations are done with whatever resolution the camera is set for.
Experiment with image rotation and mirror. Rotation of zero, 90 CW, 90 CCW, and 180 degrees covers the 4 most likely ways to mount a camera. Mirror is only needed if there is an odd number of reflections in the mirror path. Most likely you will have no mirrors in the camera path so leave the mirror option unchecked.
Rotation of 180 degrees is needed if the camera is mounted upside down like my Watchport/V2 is.
You can experiment with scanning the three axes but the output into the file Scan3d.xyz will be strange until you calibrate. Ii have to leave shortly so will try to write about calibration tonight.
Tom Hubin
thubin@earthlink.net
Tom Hubin
thubin@earthlink.net
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Hello,
I just uploaded the latest version of my 3d video probe plugin called Scan3d.
"http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php/topic,10958.msg74209.html#msg74209"
I included the source code with an "Open Source" license for those who wish to explore writing programs for accessing webcams.
Testing is somewhat limited right now since I have been away from home and my shop for the last 6 weeks.
Tom Hubin
thubin@earthlink.net
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This looks interesting Tom.
Thanks very much for sharing your work.
What sort of line laser is needed or recommended?
This is one cheap one I found. Same as the cross one that I presently use for job setup.
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.5928
Thanks, Greg
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This looks interesting Tom.
Thanks very much for sharing your work.
What sort of line laser is needed or recommended?
This is one cheap one I found. Same as the cross one that I presently use for job setup.
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.5928
Thanks, Greg
Hello Greg,
Mine is similar, almost identical. See link below for more detail.
http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php/topic,4989.msg50288.html#msg50288
Tom Hubin
thubin@earthlink.net
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OK I ordered a couple of those. Not much to lose if they're no good. ;)
Now what should I be looking for in a camera?
Resolution? Compression?
I see a lot of the webcams on ebay claim up to 8MP but in the specs are only 640 x 480
Greg
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OK I ordered a couple of those. Not much to lose if they're no good. ;)
Now what should I be looking for in a camera?
Resolution? Compression?
I see a lot of the webcams on ebay claim up to 8MP but in the specs are only 640 x 480
Greg
I am using 640x480 cameras. One is the Play Station camera. There are two silver models and one black model. All seem to work ok but the silver ones are easier to mount with a flat top surface. I drilled and tapped the top surface to have the same mounting pattern as the Watchport/V series of cameras.
The Watchport/V2 camera is great but seldom turn up on ebay. Can be bought new for $125 to $200. Can get on ebay for $50 to $100 when it turns up about once every 2 or 3 months.
The Watchport/V camera is interchangeable with the Watchport/V2 but much cheaper. It is from the 1990s so does not do compression so is slower. But it works fine on many machines. Can be bought on ebay for $10 to $30 including shipping. Often the IR Blocking Filter is hazy but it is easy to remove or replace. I have a few that the factory gave me so can mail you one if need be.
Most webcams can be used but may be a pain to mount. The Watchport webcams have 1/4-20 thread on the bottom so can be mounted on most tripods. There are two 1/8 inch diameter holes on the bottom that take 1/8 inch diameter dowel pins for consistent registration.
Take a look at some of my hardware and drawings scattered around the Mach3 Video Probing forum.
Tom Hubin
thubin@earthlink.net
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Hello Tom,
I've been trying your new Scan3D plugin and have some questions about the calibration.
I used Art's video probe with some success earlier, but as your Scan3D has more possibilities in the setup of camera and laser - and in the end a better scan - I'm trying to figure out how to make it work.
If I understand right the direction of the laserline can be chosen according to ones own needs. For me this would be parallel to X-axis ( I tried parallel to Y-axis as well, problems are the same). I have both the camera and the laser pointing down at 45 degrees so the camera is looking perpendicularly at the line (in the middle of its vertical field of view).
I have a nice focusable line laser and Watchport V3 camera with a set of different lenses (tried 8mm F2.0 and 12mm F2.0). I have as well a Logitech QuickCam Pro. The Watchport has a problem of a bigger distortion of the picture (a straight line seen as slightly bent). The QuickCam has a zoom that demands a calibration every time you plug it in after having disconnected it for milling work.
With Art's videoprobe the quickCam gave ok results but took always a lot of time setting up - the Watchport was useless. With your Scan3D I understood the calibration should take care of - at least some of - the distortion. And what's nice no calibration needed every time before a scan.
The problems:
1) I can't get the calibration process - done as you describe in the short manual - to correct the "bending". This is easy to see by scanning a flat surface with two parallel passes resulting to two "trays" with edges not meeting.
2)As I understand the calibration should automatically correct any slight deviation in the direction of the camera in relation to the laserline. I still get the edges of two adjacent passes not meeting but as two slightly inclined bands. (This is easier to see using the QuickCam as the scan is not "bent")
3)The whole of these problems may be a result of some of the calibration process missing... In the Scan3D window after calibration the fields for FOWs, Elevation and Azimuth all show "1". ?
Hope you can make give me some advice how to solve this since your Plugin is a big step from the previuos one.
Thanks a lot.
Eero
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Hello Eero,
> If I understand right the direction of the laserline can be chosen
> according to ones own needs.
Yes, that was the plan. More accurately the camera plus laser line assembly can be oriented as you wish. The relationship between the camera and the laser is fixed. The laser plane must be perpendicular to the camera lens axis.
> For me this would be parallel to X-axis
That is the way Art arranged his. Mine should work there as well.
> ( I tried parallel to Y-axis as well, problems are the same).
I presume that you calibrate for whichever axis that you are using.
> I have both the camera and the laser pointing down at 45 degrees
> so the camera is looking perpendicularly at the line (in the middle of
> its vertical field of view).
Sounds ok but I would like to see a photo or a drawing that shows the camera, the laser module, and the laser line. Can you post photos or links here for the benefit of others?
> I have a nice focusable line laser and Watchport V3 camera with a
> set of different lenses (tried 8mm F2.0 and 12mm F2.0). I have as
> well a Logitech QuickCam Pro. The Watchport has a problem of a
> bigger distortion of the picture (a straight line seen as slightly bent).
The longer focal length will usually have less distortion. Smaller field of view means more magnification for more detail too. Can you identify the lenses or the source? Are they part of the set that is sold for the Watchport or did you maybe find them on ebay.
> The QuickCam has a zoom that demands a calibration every time you
> plug it in after having disconnected it for milling work.
I can see where that would be very inconvenient.
> With Art's videoprobe the quickCam gave ok results but took always a lot of time setting up - the Watchport was useless.
I was able to use the Watchport/V2 with Art's plugin. I don't have a V3 to test with but I would expect it to work ok. I have one out for repair so may know more when it returns.
> With your Scan3D I understood the calibration should take care of -
> at least some of - the distortion.
That is the plan but not tested a lot. It seems to work on my setup but I use a lens that seems to have little distortion anyway. The math can be made to fix worse distortion. I just need to see some bad results first.
> And what's nice no calibration needed every time before a scan.
That was just a matter of saving the cal data. I think Art just did not get around to doing that when he was tinkering.
The problems:
1) I can't get the calibration process - done as you describe in the
> short manual - to correct the "bending". This is easy to see by
> scanning a flat surface with two parallel passes resulting to two
> "trays" with edges not meeting.
Sounds like the calibration may not have been done. The defaults should produce something recognizable but probably do little to correct distortion. I would like to see the data files and photos of the scan setup.
2)As I understand the calibration should automatically correct any slight
> deviation in the direction of the camera in relation to the laserline. I still
> get the edges of two adjacent passes not meeting but as two slightly
> inclined bands. (This is easier to see using the QuickCam as the scan is not "bent")
I am not following you. I need to see the setup and the results.
3)The whole of these problems may be a result of some of the calibration
> process missing... In the Scan3D window after calibration the fields for
> FOVs, Elevation and Azimuth all show "1". ?
I think those are default values. You should get something like 45 degrees for elevation for your setup. It is possible that the point of the needle is not being seen or that the calibration scan not working right.
You need to be sure that the needle point is detected by the camera when the laser hits the point. That should be the only thing visible during the cal scan. You probably need to set the camera exposure time to a small value, like 1ms, so that the field is black except for a small area where the laser hits the point of the calibration needle.
I am guessing by your numbers that you are using mm. I tested with inches but that should not matter.
Is the camera upside down or right side up or sideways? Photos of your hardware off the machine and on the machine would tell me a lot.
The camera orientation needs to be selected so that the line is horizontal in the second display. Ideally, that view should appear right side up for the part but would probably work upside down too. The line should not appear vertical in the second view.
Tom Hubin
thubin@earthlink.net
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Hi Tom,
Finally I got together some pictures, calibration files and a few scans, that you wished to see.
The hardware:
In addition to the original WatchportV3 4.9mm lens, I got a set of four 3.6 - 6 - 8 and 12mm on eBay
http://cgi.ebay.com/Any-4-pcs-3-6-6-8-12-16mm-CCTV-board-Lens-set-dome_W0QQitemZ370158397420QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item562f28e7ec&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14 (http://cgi.ebay.com/Any-4-pcs-3-6-6-8-12-16mm-CCTV-board-Lens-set-dome_W0QQitemZ370158397420QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item562f28e7ec&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14)
In my setup I prefer the 8mm to the 12 mm lens because I need to have the FOV cover a Z variation of about 28 mm in one frame.
The adjustable focus 5mV green line laser comes from
http://shop.david-vision-systems.de/index.php/language/en (http://shop.david-vision-systems.de/index.php/language/en)
I made a small current regulator for controlling the brightness of the line. This way one can get a very nice and sharp line specially on a light coloured surface.
The calibration setup:
In the following photos you can see the needle fixed on a black velvet to get rid of all unwanted light or reflections that could disturb the calibration. The needle is about 40mm long and 0.8mm thick, painted matt black and touched on the point with white chalk, that lights up like a small LED when hit by the laser. In Scan3D intensities graph it gives a very clean and lonely peak. In the room there is no light and I even turn off the computer screen for the duration of the process. - And as "scanner" moves to the starting point of the calibration scan, I get out of the workshop myself. Not much fun to stay in the dark for hours... ;)
As you guessed all the values I use are in mm.
The orientation for Watchport is 180 and for QuickCam 0 degrees.
And some questions:
My second question in the last post wasn't very clear. Sorry.
The camera-laser setup is fixed. This system has two planes: the laser plane and one perpendicular to it following the lens axis. If the laser line is parallel to X-axis this second plane is normally following the Y-Z plane. This is only very difficult or impossible to set precisely. Does it matter? If I understand this needle point process right - any deviation of this would be corrected by the calibration, wouldn't it ?
Could you tell me what are the values of Elevation and Azimuth correspond to?
Attachments:
For some reason, as long as I have the camera connected, I can't get any of my computers to get a complete "Print Screen" from your Scan3D window - I only get the leftmost "camera view" window. To show the intensity graph of my calibration "needle point" I had to take a photo of my screen.
I send you two sets of zip files - one for each camera. They include: scan3d.ini, Scan3dCal.pts and an example Scan3dCloud.xyz - plus three photos: lower part of the Scan3DWindow and two pictures of the example PointCloud showing the distortion mentioned in my previous post.
- Too many attachments... You'll find the zip files in the following post below.
All the best,
Eero
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And here the zip files for the previous...
The object in the example scans is a flat steelbar of 8mm x 25mm x 100mm covered with thin masking tape to avoid too much reflection.
Ciao,
Eero
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Hello Eero,
> Finally I got together some pictures, calibration files and a few scans,
> that you wished to see.
Thanx. Lots of good detail. Can you post the full plugin box and not just the numbers. I would like to see what the camera is seeing and how it is being interpreted.
> The hardware:
> In addition to the original WatchportV3 4.9mm lens, I got a set of four
> 3.6 - 6 - 8 and 12mm on eBay
> urrl=http://cgi.ebay.com/Any-4-pcs-3-6-6-8-12-16mm-CCTV-board-Lens-set-dome_W0QQitemZ370158397420QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item562f28e7ec&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14]http://cgi.ebay.com/Any-4-pcs-3-6-6-8-12-16mm-CCTV-board-Lens-set-dome_W0QQitemZ370158397420QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item562f28e7ec&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14[/url]
> In my setup I prefer the 8mm to the 12 mm lens because I need to have
> the FOV cover a Z variation of about 28 mm in one frame.
You will get less distortion from the lens if you use a longer focal length. This will provide a smaller angular field of view. Move the camera farther back to increase the linear field of view.
> The calibration setup:
> In the following photos you can see the needle fixed on a black velvet to get
> rid of all unwanted light or reflections that could disturb the calibration. The
> needle is about 40mm long and 0.8mm thick, painted matt black and touched
> on the point with white chalk, that lights up like a small LED when hit by the
> laser. In Scan3D intensities graph it gives a very clean and lonely peak. In the
> room there is no light and I even turn off the computer screen for the duration
> of the process. - And as "scanner" moves to the starting point of the calibration
> scan, I get out of the workshop myself. Not much fun to stay in the dark for
> hours... ;)
I use a Watchport/v2. Your v3 settings should be similar.
Most of that light reduction should not be necessary. You probably are using the default exposure control for the camera. Likely set to "average" so the exposure time self adjusts to the max of 0.25 seconds since you turned out all of the lights.
Set your exposure time (use Source/advanced controls) to off or manual. Then adjust the exposure time to 1ms or maybe 2ms. Most of the camera display, due only to ambient light, will go black or at least very dark. The needle point should still show up as a spike in the fourth display. You want the exposure time to be short enough that the spike does not quite reach the top of the display. That is when it is sensitive enough to get a good signal but not so sensitive that the signal saturates.
> As you guessed all the values I use are in mm.
Untested in mm but it should work ok. On that note, Art did MachCloud for mm but said that it should work for inches. It does not. So I guess I need to test in mm to see if there are surprises.
> The orientation for Watchport is 180 and for QuickCam 0 degrees.
I see that you properly rotated the display for each of these cases.
> And some questions:
> My second question in the last post wasn't very clear. Sorry.
> The camera-laser setup is fixed. This system has two planes: the laser plane
> and one perpendicular to it following the lens axis.
The photos look like the proper arrangement.
> If the laser line is parallel to X-axis this second plane is normally following
> the Y-Z plane. This is only very difficult or impossible to set precisely. Does
> it matter? If I understand this needle point process right - any deviation
> of this would be corrected by the calibration, wouldn't it ?
That is the plan. However, you need to be sure that after you have calibrated the camera and laser that the setup does not change. You can remove it and put it back without recalibration if you can put it back repeatably enough.
> Could you tell me what are the values of Elevation and Azimuth correspond to?
Elevation on mine is 60 degrees. That is the angle the laser plane makes with the XY table plane. This number is based on the calibration data collected and should be close to your design. That would be 45 degrees for your setup.
Azimuth is the angle that the laser line on the XY plane is rotated about the Z axis. That should be zero degrees for my design and calibrates to about 0.5 degrees. Yours should be close to 90 degrees.
Since your numbers are the defaults I would say that calibration has not been done. Are you using the latest version of Scan3d? I posted two versions.
> Attachments:
> For some reason, as long as I have the camera connected, I can't get
> any of my computers to get a complete "Print Screen" from your Scan3D
> window - I only get the leftmost "camera view" window. To show the
> intensity graph of my calibration "needle point" I had to take a photo of
> my screen.
Collecting camera data is done by using the clipboard. Would not be my choice. Just the only way I could get it to work using VFW (Video For Windows). Saving the screen also uses the clipboard so it interferes with camera data collection. That is primarily why I added a Pause button.
Pause the video, snapshot your screen and post in graphics software like MS Paint, then you can Resume the video. If you want to do this in the middle of a running job you would want to first pause the motion. That might be sufficient or you might still have to pause the video.
> I send you two sets of zip files - one for each camera. They include:
> scan3d.ini, Scan3dCal.pts and an example Scan3dCloud.xyz - plus
> three photos: lower part of the Scan3DWindow and two pictures of the
> example PointCloud showing the distortion mentioned in my previous post.
> Too many attachments... You'll find the zip files in the following post below.
Got them all. The only thing I see that is odd is that you scan the Z axis second and not last. Since your object is pretty flat (or am I incorrect) I would be inclined to scan Z last.
The FOV numbers of 1 and 1 are the default of 1 inch by 1 inch. In your case that is 1mm x 1mm . This tells me that you have no calibration data. Yet I can see that you have the cal data points in the cal file and you have values for the calibration coefficients in the ini file. So something is not right. I'll have to dig into that.
Tom Hubin
thubin@earthlink.net
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Hello Eero,
Just letting you know that I am working the problem.
I have corrected the FOV, elevation, and azimuth calculations. They are not causing your problems but certainly contributed to confusion. Those numbers are intended to be a reality check on your setup and calibration. They are not used anyplace. Just displayed.
It appears that calibration calculations are ok but the pts file data is not.
Look at the pts file with a text editor like MS Notepad or MS Word or a spreadsheet. The 9 columns of numbers are x, y, z, h, v, gray, red, green, blue.
The green column has lots of values of 255. That is the max possible value. That means the actual value is between 255 and infinity. You need to reduce the camera exposure time so that you get few, if an, values of 255. You can view this on the fourth display. The green graph should not reach 255 (dotted line).
When it does reach 255 it tends to have several neighboring pixels also at 255. This makes it hard to accurately decide which one is the peak value. This will effect accuracy but is not your major problem.
The big problem is very strange. Often where the z value changes the y value will be nonsense for a line or two. These odd data lines will be included in the calculations. I don't know yet where they are coming from but I will be working it. I will need to setup my axes like yours and do them in the same order to see if it is a motion issue. May get to it Sunday night or early in the week.
Meantime, can you try cal again with z last? That would be y first and x second.
Please send me an email address if you want a test version of the plugin when I think it is ok enough for you to try.
Tom Hubin
thubin@earthlink.net
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Hello Tom,
With your advise of using the Pause and Resume buttons, I got some snapshots of the screens. Here is again a zip-file with new calibration files and two pictures using the WatchportV3 (still 8mmF2.0 - I already thought of improving the setup so that it'd be quick to change the distance of camera and laser if needed - didn't have time to change it yet...)
This last calibration was done before I got your last reply - the values of green are still too high - even after reducing the exposure quite much and playing around with some of the other settings. The exposure is now less then 1/2 ms, but I had to increase the line brightness. The previous calibration files I sent were done with about 1/60 s. I don't know all the meanings/effects of the different adjustment possibilities of the Watchport screen...
With a 1/2 ms exposure there is a fluctuation of in the picture brightness that goes from a clean picture of the laserline to almost no line and the whole cycle takes something like 20-30 seconds. Specially close to the edges of the picture this gives trouble when trying to adjust the exposure and/or brightness of line right for a non saturated result on the graph. I don't know what causes this... (with a quite feeble line and longer - 1/60s - exposure I didn't notice this). Increasing the Gamma (?) from one to 2.2 helped some , but I don't know what it means... Nor do I know if I should use the video compression, less or more colour... and white balance automatic or manual... ? Maybe you could send me a snapshot of your camera settings since you use basically the same camera?
The Watchport viewer shows the laser line quite a clean, straight - better then I remembered - or my settings have some way improved much. Even without any correction this should give quite a good scan - but the "bending" in my example last time was quite big. I'll try again tomorrow if I find a moment.
I'll keep an eye on the saturation levels of the colours, and try the axis order your way. (As my router is a X axis gantry type machine, I've just got to a habit of avoiding too much back and forth movement of the X-axis. That's the reason for the odd order of calibration.)
I'll send my email to your earthlink address.
Eero
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Sorry - the attachment!
Eero
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Hello Eero,
Thanx for the files. I will download and examine later.
The laser should be used at maximum brightness. That way it is much brighter than any ambient lighting. The camera exposure is set short enough so that the laser does not saturate the ccd array. This usually leaves everything else black, which is exactly what you want. You only reduce the laser if it still saturates the camera on the shortest exposure time.
With a 5mw laser spread over a line, that is not likely to happen with the Watchport camera. The shortest exposure time is something like 1/30 ms.
You may have to increase the exposure time to see things while you are setting up. But before you run the scan you need to reduce the camera sensitivity so that it only sees the laser.
If some ambient light is still appearing at a low level then set the plugin's threshold a little higher than the ambient light and it will be removed from the data set.
Calibration is slow right now because it scans the entire volume looking for the point. Later I will make the calibration scan smarter so that it scans the volume but always near the point.
I set the camera for compression to speed up communications. Should work either way. All the other settings are factory defaults, I think. I will look to be sure.
Does your camera lens wiggle around. All of my lenses are loose fitting. I could not find a suitable commercial M12-0.5 nut to lock the lens down so I made some Delrin nuts. A compression spring between the lens and the camera body might also keep the lens from shifting position if you don't touch the lens.
Tom Hubin
thubin@earthlink.net
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Hello Tom,
Attached the last calibration files and a snapshot of camera settings. The laser is at max brightness and I changed my pin point to a thinner one as well - diameter is now in the range of 1/3-1/4mm. As you can see the exposure is about 0.23 ms. I tuned the colour intensity (on the first page of camera settings) down by half. In the resulting scan the 255 max reading appears only 4 times for green and once for red. The scanning order is Y 1, X 2 and Z 3.
One question: After calibration scan, some calculations are done. Where is this resulting information stored? The properties window of scan3d.ini shows it not being changed since I stored the calibration settings BEFORE the calibration started. Is there some button that I'm missing to complete and store the data?
Eero
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Hello Eero,
> Attached the last calibration files and a snapshot of camera settings.
Thanx. They look good.
> The laser is at max brightness and I changed my pin point to a thinner one as well
> As you can see the exposure is about 0.23 ms.
Much nicer calibration data in your Scan3dCal.pts file.
>The scanning order is Y 1, X 2 and Z 3.
Thanx. I just needed to be sure that scanning order was not the problem.
> After calibration scan, some calculations are done.
> Where is this resulting information stored?
The coefficients are internal but will be saved in the in the ini file. Click the Save button then look at the file with a text editor. You will see that they have changed.
> The properties window of scan3d.ini shows it not being changed since I
> stored the calibration settings BEFORE the calibration started. Is there
> some button that I'm missing to complete and store the data?
that data would normally change but does not work properly in your version. I have corrected that and am testing in case other things got messed up. I will run your data late today. Then probably send you the latest plugin.
Meantime, try scanning a part to see if the calibration is working correctly now.
Tom Hubin
thubin@earthlink.net
Eero
[/quote]
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Hello,
I am Steve Stallings, a friend of Tom Hubin's and sometimes collaborator in his video probing and other CNC efforts.
Regretably my visit to this forum is to inform you that Tom passed away this morning. Some of you who may have met him in person realize that his health was a constant challenge. He made it into his 60s despite having cystic fibrosis, quite an accomplishment in itself.
Tom was working with his probing ideas almost until the end. While I lack his skills with optics, math, and programming, I will do what I can to see that his work continues. Fortunately he managed to put most of his ideas and software into this forum and provided GPL licenses for it.
Regards,
Steve Stallings
www.PMDX.com
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Steve:
Sorry for the sad news. Tom was a great pioneer in the video probinbg area. I had a few conversations with him on it, and his passion
was always evident. I didnt know him well, but he seemed a great guy to deal with. I was aware of his health problems which made
his dedication even more amazing than his knowledge on the subject.
I always have this project on my back burner, and I will dedicate any future releases in that area to Tom.
My condolances to his family and all that knew him.
Regards
Art
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I too am sorry to hear about Tom. He was a real giant in video probing. I knew he had health problems but since I don't visit this page that often was surprised to hear the bad news. We had emailed each other many times. It explains why he did not repond to an off line email I sent him about 2 weeks ago about a new green laser that I wanted his opinion about.
While Tom was working more specifically on video probing my associates have been working on topographical scanner that at this time doesn't use mach3 .
A preview of what can be done can be seen at www.grasp3d.com . The software is not quite ready and there is a patent that is being processed. So there are no need for questions at this time. We are hoping all is done by the end of this year.
Dan Mauch
www.camtronics-cnc.com
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I only knew Tom from this forum and I met him at the last Cabin Fever. He seemed like a good guy and very, very smart. I'm sure glad I got to meet him. I have wanted to try the video probing for a while but like most never had the time I could set aside for it. I had tried to contact Tom offlist with a couple of questions just this past Saturday so I could be getting the bits together I would need to give it a go. I will still give it a go as I'm ordering a camera and laser tonight. I hope I can get up to speed on the plug-in so I can help answer questions regarding it. I have no idea if I will be able to get my head around it yet or not but I sure hope I can. I will be posting my progress as I go.
Hats off for Tom.
Brett
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Well, honestly gang I'm finding it pretty hard to express my condolences as eloquently as those of you whom have previously posted. This week started with Crappy news, got worse and this pretty much tops it all off.
I communicated with Tom on a few occaisons and like Art, always realized his passion for the Laser/video probing concept. His energy and positive attitude were infectious and it was always a pleasure to speak to him and exchange findings, ideas and the like.
I am really sorry to learn of his passing and can only hope that he has found peace and relief from his illness. He will be missed.
Sid