One-shot 3D Surface Reconstruction from Instantaneous Frequencies - Solutions to Ambiguity Problems

Phase-measuring profilometry is a well known technique for 3D surface reconstruction based on a sinusoidal pattern that is projected on a scene. If the surface is partly occluded by, for instance, other objects, then the depth shows abrupt transitions at the edges of these occlusions. This causes ambiguities in the phase and, consequently, also in the reconstruction. This paper introduces a reconstruction method that is based on the instantaneous frequency instead of phase. Using these instantaneous frequencies we present a method to recover from ambiguities caused by occlusion. The recovery works under the condition that some surface patches can be found that are planar. This ability is demonstrated in a simple example.