Abstract

In laser imaging, accurate extraction of the laser’s center is essential. Several methods exist to extract the laser’s center in an image, such as the geometric mean, the parabolic curve fitting, and the Gaussian curve fitting, etc. The Gaussian curve fitting is the most suitable because it is based on the physical properties of the laser. The width of the Gaussian laser beam depends on the distance from the laser source to the target object. It is assumed in general that the distance remains constant at a laser spot resulting in a symmetric Gaussian model for the laser image. However, on a curved surface of the object, the distance is not constant; The laser beam is narrower on the side closer to the focal point of the laser light and wider on the side closer to the laser source, which causes the distribution of the laser beam to skew. This study presents a modified Gaussian model in the laser imaging to incorporate the slant angle of a curved object. The proposed method is verified with simulation and experiments.