Optical Gages have seen wide use in applications from automotive manufacturing to precisions electronics. But even after many years of advances, a common complaint is still the problem of errors or lost data when trying to measure surfaces that are semi-specular, rough, or with a mixture of finishes from very bright to dark. There have been some solutions developed including new cameras with more dynamic range, the use of polarization or multiple exposures, but each approach has its limitations be it longer measurement times or physical restrictions such as view angles. In this paper, we will review the latest solutions to date and introduce a new approach that alleviates some of the current problems and thereby offers an alternative that could be applied to some of the more difficult applications today.
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