The following table describes the function of each button:

Manually specify the Region based on which profile creation is performed in the Current.InputImage record.

View the profile feature extraction results along with the diagnostic non-interactive Region in the LastRun.InputImage record. The feature extraction result graphics are displayed in green when the operator's status is Passed and in red when the operator's status is FailedTolerance.

In addition to these typical display records, a Cog3DRangeImageCrossSectionTool has the following display records. The Current.Fixture record displays the created profile and the selected space for the profile. You can manually drag and adjust the new space you define as the profile selected space. You can extract a corner using the Cross Section tool and use the coordinate of the point to fixture the profile in a subsequent Cross Section tool.

The Current.Profile record displays the profile and the operator graphics. Use this record to manually adjust the regions for the profile features you want to extract. This record also shows the result of the operator you select from the list of operators. The result graphic is displayed in green when the operator status is Passed and in red when the operator status is FailedTolerance. Note that for each operator you can turn on or off whether the operator region and result should be displayed. The profile selected space is also displayed in this record in a non-interactive mode.

The LastRun.CombinedGraphics record shows the results of multiple operators at once in a convenient way, with the Region-X axis position adjusted to be near your profile contour features. The displayed result can either be a feature graphic or a measurement graphic. Note that for each operator you can turn on or off whether the result should be displayed in the LastRun.CombinedGraphics record.

Use the Profile tab to configure the source of the profile the tool should use. Choose either to create the profile based on the input range image and the Region you specify or to use an input profile already created by another Cross Section tool.

Note: When you choose to use an already extracted input profile, even though the input profile contains all data you need to perform measurements on it, you must still supply to the tool the range image from which you extracted the profile to enable fitting the measurement results back on the range image.

The following figure shows the default Profile tab:

You can set the following parameters for the profile and the Region.

Use the Fixture tab to select the profile coordinate space of your needs. The profile data will be expressed at runtime in the profile coordinate space you specify. This space becomes the selected space of the output profile. The results of the Cross Section operators are also reported in this space. The fixturing process creates an output profile that is identical to the source profile (either created by extraction from a range image or an already existing profile selected as input profile) except that it has the selected space you specify, which may be different from the selected space of the source profile. The selected space name is shown on the tab as the Profile SSN.

The following figure shows the default Fixture tab:

The radio buttons become enabled once the tool was run and an output profile is created.

Select the Current.Fixture record on the image display to view the alignment of the profile coordinate space you selected. Manually, you can adjust your profile coordinate space in the Current.Fixture record. The following figure shows a non-default profile space selected.

You can set the following parameters for the profile space.

Use the Operators tab to create and configure the operators that you want to use to make measurements on the profile:

Use the function buttons shown in the following figure to add, delete and reorder the items in the reference table:

Operators are executed in the order they are listed, specified by their Index.

The following table describes what each button does:

For each operator, you can:

• Show or hide the feature regions used in the operator in the Current.Profile record.
• Show or hide the operator's result in various records.
• Show or hide the operator's result in the LastRun.CombinedGraphics record. Note that you have to rerun the tool for this setting to take effect.
• View the Status of running the operator, that is, whether it has passed or failed. Also, if it failed, then why.
• View the Result of running the operator.

The following figure shows an example of some operators configured and run successfully on the Operators tab.

The Status of each operator is Passed and the Result contained in each operator is shown. The overall (Passed) Status of the operators is shown above the operators. If one or more operators fail, the overall Status will be Failed.

The failures reported by an operator can be one of the following:

• FailedTolerance: The operator ran but one or more of the tolerances failed.
• FailedToMeasure: The operator ran but failed to produce a measurement.
• FeatureNotExtracted: The operator ran but failed to extract a feature.
• FeatureNotComputed: The operator ran but failed to compute a feature.
• InputFeatureMissing: The operator ran but one or more of its input operators were not found.
• NotRun: The operator has not been run.

Note that the angle minimum and maximum values are always stored in radians in the tool, but in the edit control you can work with the values in degrees as well.

The 3D Cross Section tool supports the following operators:

Extract operators analyze portions of the profile enclosed within a region you specify.

Note that fitting the region in the image is not available for the operator regions because the profile is a graphic record and not an image.

The ExtractLineSegment operator extracts a line segment from the profile contour points within the region(s) you specify.

Note that VisionPro regions do have a direction but that direction is ignored now. The extracted line direction is always in the increasing X direction in the profile default space.

Specify the tolerances for the extracted line segment:

• RMS - the root mean squared perpendicular error between the line and all of the points in the region
• StartX - X coordinate of starting point of the line segment
• StartY - Y coordinate of starting point of the line segment
• EndX - X coordinate of ending point of the line segment
• EndY - Y coordinate of ending point of the line segment
• Angle - angle of line segment

Programmatically, you can set these tolerances as the properties of the Cog3DRangeImageCrossSectionExtractLineSegment class.

The ExtractPoint operator extracts a point from the profile contour points within the region(s) you specify. The ExtractPoint operator has three usage modes (Cog3DRangeImageCrossSectionExtractPointDirectionSelectionModeConstants):

• DirectionFromPreDefinedList - the user can select the direction of extraction from a predefined list of points.

  The PointType can be one of the following:

  • Top - extracts the topmost point, that is, the point with the highest Y coordinate
  • Bottom - extracts the bottommost point, that is, the point with the lowest Y coordinate
  • Left - extracts the leftmost point, that is, the point with the lowest X coordinate
  • Right - extracts the rightmost point, that is, the point with the highest X coordinate
  • Average - extracts the average point, that is, the average position of all points within one or more profile regions
  • TopLeft - extracts the point with the lowest X and the highest Y coordinates
  • TopRight - extracts the point with the highest X and highest Y coordinates
  • BottomLeft - extracts the point with the lowest X and the lowest Y coordinates
  • BottomRight - extracts the point with the the highest X and the lowest Y coordinates
  These options are defined in the profile default space.
  You can specify the tolerances for the extracted point:
  • X coordinate of the point
  • Y coordinate of the point
  Programmatically, you can set these tolerances as the properties of the Cog3DRangeImageCrossSectionExtractPoint class.

  When the mode is set to DirectionFromPredefinedList, the user can select the direction of extraction from a predefined list of points:

  

• DirectionFromAngle - This gives the most freedom and flexibility to advanced users. In this mode, the user can specify an angle in radians and specify whether that angle is given in ProfileDefaultSpace or ProfileSelectedSpace (Cog3DRangeImageCrossSectionSpaceSelectionConstants). ProfileDefaultSpace represents the profile’s default coordinate space while ProfileSelectedSpace represents the profile’s selected coordinate space. .

  

• DirectionFromLineSegment - The ExtractPoint operator uses a line segment as the baseline for specifying the direction of the extraction. Besides specifying the base line, the user would need to specify the direction with respect to the base line (Cog3DRangeImageCrossSectionExtractPointLineSegmentDirectionConstants):

  • AlongLineSegment - Along the baseline (0 degrees)
  • OppositeOfLineSegment - Opposite to the line segment’s direction (180 degrees)
  • LeftPerpendicular - Left perpendicular (90 degrees)
  • RightPerpendicular - Right perpendicular (270 degrees)
  When run and the input line segment is available it will be drawn on the display as a dashed infinite line with light blue color.
  

An ExtractCorner operator returns a point representing a Corner from the profile of 3D range data.

The ExtractCorner operator can process a 3D profile using one algorithm to locate clearly visible peaks and valleys:

The operator supports a second algorithm to locate corners represented by features such as the corner at the edge of a step, the corner at the edge of a gap, and so on:

See the Remarks section in the documentation for Cog3DRangeImageCrossSectionExtractCornerV2 for a description of the algorithm the ExtractCorner operator uses to locate corner points. In addition, the class supports three additional advanced parameters in the API to allow you to fine tune the search:

• MaxGapToFill

  The default minimum distance to interpret a gap between two profile points is 0.5mm along the Region-X axis of the ProfileSelectedSpaceName. Be aware that end points with a large difference along the Z-axis might not be considered a gap.

• StopLineFitAtGap
• LineFitValidPointFraction

Configure the following parameters to find the right corner for your vision application:

• Corner Properties
• Result Tolerances
• Input Region
• Graphics

Corner Properties

Result Tolerances

Input Region

Graphics

The Cog3DRangeImageCrossSectionExtractCircleFit operator is used to fit a circle to a user-selected region of the cross-section profile's curve. Please note that this operator is a fitter and not a finder, i.e. it will fit a circle the best way it can using all the chosen points of the input profile even if those points do not represent a circular feature of the object. This operator does not try to find which input points belong to a circle. It assumes that the correct points have already been found within the selected region.

The CircleFit operator’s user interface lets the user:

• Specify regions of interest along the input profile

• Set tolerance for the following properties of the found circle

  • CenterXTolerance
  • CenterYTolerance
  • RadiusTolerance

  • RMSTolerance

    This is the root mean square error (in units of the selected space) between the selected points of the input profile and the fit circle.

It is important to select only points on the input profile that truly represent circular features. Including improper points can result in a poor circle fit.

NOTE: this is a fitter and not a finder tool. It will be able to fit a circle on any profile (that contains enough points to do so), see below:

The IntersectLineLine operator computes the intersection point of two lines, each defined by a line segment produced by another operator.

You specify the two line segments to be used in the LineSegment1 Operator Name and LineSegment2 Operator Name fields. The list in a field contains only those operators that are listed upstream and that are valid for this operation.

The input graphics for this operator is the regions associated with the 2 line segments.

You can specify the tolerances for the computed intersection point:

• X coordinate of the intersection point
• Y coordinate of the intersection point

The PointLineSegment operator computes a point on a line segment.

You specify the line segment on which the point should be computed in the LineSegment Operator Name field. The point can be the Start point, the End point, or the Middle point of the line segment, which you specify in the Point on LineSegment field (LineSegmentPoint in the API). The list in the field contains only those operators that are listed upstream and that are valid for this operation.

The input graphics for this operator is the region(s) associated with the line segment.

You can specify the tolerances for the computed point:

• X coordinate of the point
• Y coordinate of the point

The MidpointPointPoint operator computes the middle point between two points. The following figure shows the computed middle point and the regions based on which the two input points were extracted. You can view all the points in the LastRun.CombinedGraphics record.

You specify the two points to be used in the Point1 Operator Name and Point2 Operator Name fields. The list in a field contains only those operators that are listed upstream and that are valid for this operation.

The input graphics for this operator is the regions associated with the 2 points.

You can specify the tolerances for the computed point:

• X coordinate of the point
• Y coordinate of the point

The LineSegmentPointPoint operator computes the line segment between two points. The following figure shows the computed line segment and the regions based on which the two input points were extracted. You can view both points and the line segment in the LastRun.CombinedGraphics record.

You specify the two points to be used in the Point1 Operator Name and Point2 Operator Name fields. The list in a field contains only those operators that are listed upstream and that are valid for this operation.

The input graphics for this operator is the regions associated with the 2 points.

You can specify an angle tolerance for the computed line segment.

The NearestPoint operator computes the nearest point from a point either on a line or on a line segment. (The line segment is a portion of the line.)

The following figures show computing the nearest point on a line. The following figures show computing the nearest point on a line segment. You specify the input point in the Point Operator Name field and the input line segment in the LineSegment Operator Name field. The list in a field contains only those operators that are listed upstream and that are valid for this operation.

You specify whether the nearest point should be computed on the line or on the line segment in the NearestType field. NearestToLine is the projection of the input point on the line that passes through the line segment. NearestToLineSegment is the closest point on the line segment to the input point.

The input graphics for this operator is the regions associated with the input point and the input line segment.

You can specify the tolerances for the computed point:

• X coordinate of the point
• Y coordinate of the point

The Cog3DRangeImageCrossSectionPointAreaResult operator can have an input of the result of an area measurement and extract one single point of interest from the result object (only if the points are valid).

The following properties are available:

• Area

• Point: The AreaResult’s extract point operator provides functionality and user interface to extract one of the six points of interest of the complex area result. The PointAreaResult operator is there to get one of these points (if exist) out of the result object:

  • LeftPoint
  • RightPoint
  • FarthestPointAboveReferenceProfile
  • ClosestPointAboveReferenceProfile
  • FarthestPointBelowReferenceProfile
  • ClosestPointBelowReferenceProfile

• Tolerances

  • XTolerance
  • YTolerance

The Cog3DRangeImageCrossSectionPointCircle operator allows customers to use the circle center point in downstream calculations. For example, the user can measure the Euclidean distance between two circle centers or between a circle center and a line segment.

The PointCircle operator can be found under the menu item Compute. It lets the user:

• Specify the operator that produces the circle.

• Set tolerance for the following properties of the found circle:

  • XTolerance
  • YTolerance

NOTE: The CircleFit operator is not a circle finder tool. It should not be used to find a circle or an arc of a circle of the input profile. It will use the given points of the input profile and fit a best available circle on those points.

The AngleLineLine operator measures the angle between two line segments. The following figures show the measurement of the angle between two line segments.

You specify the two line segments to be used in the LineSegment1 Operator Name and LineSegment1 Operator Name fields. The list in a field contains only those operators that are listed upstream and that are valid for this operation. The angle is computed from LineSegment1 to LineSegment2. If you set the SupplementaryAngle to True, the returned angle is measured from -LineSegment2 to LineSegment1.

The input graphics for this operator is the regions associated with the 2 line segments.

You can specify an angle tolerance for the measured angle.

The DistancePointPoint operator measures the distance between two points. The following figures show the measurement of the distance between two points.

You specify the two points to be used in the Point1 Operator Name and Point2 Operator Name fields. The list in a field contains only those operators that are listed upstream and that are valid for this operation. The measurement is in the profile selected space.

The DistanceType field specifies what distance should be measured: Euclidean distance (the length of the line segment connecting the two points), the distance in X, or the distance in Y. The distance in X is the width between the 2 points. The distance in Y is the height between the 2 points.

The input graphics for this operator is the regions for each point that was extracted from regions (and not computed from other features).

You can specify a distance tolerance for the measured distance.

The DistancePointLine operator measures the distance between a point and a line or a line segment. (The line segment is a portion of the line.)

The following figures show measuring the distance to the nearest point on the line. The following figures show measuring the distance to the nearest point on the line segment. You specify the input point in the Point Operator Name field and the input line segment in the LineSegment Operator Name field. The list in a field contains only those operators that are listed upstream and that are valid for this operation.

You specify whether the distance to the nearest point on the line (NearestToLine) or the nearest point on the line segment (NearestToLineSegment) should be measured in the NearestType field.

The input graphics for this operator is the regions associated with the point and the line segment (for those that were extracted from regions, and not computed from other features).

You can specify a distance tolerance for the measured distance.

This section describes the edit controls that are available for the Area operator (Cog3DRangeImageCrossSectionAreaLineSegments). The area measurement operator produces the result to get the point from. For more detailed information on using the operator, see the Using the Cross Section Tool section. In general, the new operator will measure the area between:

• The profile of a cross-section and
• one or more line segments.

The line segments will be interpreted as infinite lines and these infinite lines will make up a new reference profile and we can measure the difference between these two profiles. Depending on what the users want to measure in the profile they can create the reference profile from the highest or from the lowest line segments. Finally, they might be interested in the area that is under the input profile and above the reference profile, or the ones that are above the input profile and under the reference profile or both. Since this choice is very application-specific, the options are provided to the users to pick the one that fits for the application.

The Area operator has five tabs with the collected parameters:

• Line Segments
• Regions
• Parameters
• Tolerances
• Graphics

Line Segments Tab

The following tabs are not specific to the Area Under Line Segments operator and they will be the same for all of the area measurement operators.

Regions Tab

Parameters Tab

Tolerances Tab

Graphics Tab

Use the Graphics tab to control which graphics the Range Image Cross Section tool generates and displays. The following figure shows the default Graphics tab:

You can enable the following graphics associated with the Cross Section display buffers: