About EOIS - The EOIS Story

Company Background

Electro-Optical Information Systems (EOIS) is a California Corporation whose principle business is the manufacture and integration of non-contact 3D surface digitization sensors and systems for industrial applications. The headquarters for EOIS operations are located in Santa Monica, CA with a research lab environment fifteen minutes north of the Los Angeles International Airport. EOIS designs systems, develops software and performs simulation tests at this location.

1980 - 1986: Machine Vision Development

EOIS was founded as an electro-optical consulting company by the late Dr. John M. Fitts on July 1, 1980, and was incorporated in the State of California on July 1, 1981. Dr. Fitts was the CEO and President of EOIS until his untimely passing in April 1998. For the first five years of operation, EOIS operated as a traditional machine vision company specializing in alphanumeric reading and validation for pharmaceutical applications.

1986 - 1992: 3D Moiré Technology Development

Several factors precipitated the move of EOIS into its current product line of 3D part measurement sensors. One was that Dr. Fitts had extensive background and knowledge of laser interferometric systems, electro-optical tracking systems and image processing systems with his 14 years experience at Hughes Aircraft Company. A second factor was that there was a dramatic downturn in prices for powerful Floating Point Array Processors which were becoming available for PC-Based computers. A third factor was that there was an increased need in the aerospace and aircraft industries for the high-speed measurement and inspection of complex formed parts such as turbine blades, airfoils, jet engine disks, as well as castings, forgings and stampings. EOIS was the first company to extensively develop the classical, but cumbersome, moiré techniques into a modern and useful form for industrial applications. A patent was awarded to Dr. Fitts and assigned to EOIS for several configurations of the moiré sensor including electronically controlled fringe pattern generation techniques utilizing LCD and related technology. A second patent is also very important due to its breadth in covering system applications such as reverse engineering and part inspection.

The advantage of the EOIS moiré technology is that a complete grid or "patch" of dense X-Y-Z data points (typically 640 x 480 @ 300,000 points) can be captured in a single video instant. The area and density of data collected is substantially more than that for traditional single-point laser-diode triangulation sensors and single-line laser sensors which digitize one and 512 points respectively in the same equivalent time. A second advantage is that the EOIS moiré technology does not require laser illumination and thus avoids potential problems with OSHA regulations on eye safety issues and union concerns.

The moiré sensors initially developed by EOIS weighed between 5 to 10 pounds. Since off-the-shelf positioning systems were not available for these weights, EOIS developed its own special purpose positioning machines for each application. During this time period, EOIS also developed reflective paint inspection and photogrammetric and stereometric techniques for 3D tube measurement. A typical EOIS system was a customized one-of-a-kind unit with an average price of $400,000.

Although EOIS made tremendous advances in the development of the moiré technology, it found that more and more of its engineering resources were being used to solve unrelated engineering problems unique to the first time construction of mechanical and electrical machinery "builds".

1992 - 1996: Mini-Moiré Technology Development

EOIS undertook a considerable effort to repackage the moiré sensor into what is now the Mini-Moiré™ Sensor whose current weight is approximately 10 - 20 ounces. A U.S.A. trademark has been granted to EOIS for the name "Mini-Moiré". This technology is contained in a second EOIS patent.

The key feature of the Mini-Moiré Sensor is that it is small enough to be mounted onto conventional Coordinate Measuring Machines (CMM). Furthermore the sensor is small enough to be mounted on the standard 2-axis angular articulating heads manufactured by Renishaw that are standard in the CMM industry (e.g. the MIH, PH9, and PH10) via an Autojount mount (PAA1). Thus the Mini-Moiré Sensor can be utilized on a 5 Degree-of-Freedom (5-D.O.F.) CMM and can be easily removed for more conventional touch probes that are also standard in the industry. A hybrid version of the Mini-Moiré Sensor is also available which provides complete compatibility with the traditional probe technology - no probe changes are required for this configuration.

In addition to mounting the Mini-Moiré Sensor on CMMs, EOIS has interfaced its sensor to portable articulating arms (e.g. the FaroArm). EOIS' only competition from non-contact sensors on articulating arms has been from laser line scanners. To meet this competition, EOIS added a laser line option to its standard Mini-Moiré package. This gives the EOIS sensors all the capabilities of the competition, with the unique option for high-speed of Moiré scanning.

1997 - 1999 EOIS Handy Development

The development of low cost, high-resolution consumer digital cameras has allowed EOIS to develop an extremely portable version of its Moiré Technology. EOIS has a patent pending for this portable digitizing system, called The Handy™.

The Hand-Held sensor, "The Handy" is a completely self-contained, portable scanner. This new product utilizes an off-the-shelf digital camera and a battery operated Mini-Moiré projector. The Handy has many unique features in that it does not require a CMM, articulating arm or other tracking device. It is less expensive than other scanners and is more portable. It is also the only scanner that can capture data without being connected to a computer. The data is stored in the digital camera and is later downloaded to the computer for final processing.