DYNAMIC SWEEPING MECHANISM FOR A LINE SCAN CAMERA

A dynamic sweeping mechanism which drives a line-scan camera's field of view in a direction which is substantially perpendicular to the scan direction. The operation of the dynamic sweeping mechanism enables the line scan camera to make multiple scans across a target, providing the image processor the necessary image information to generate a two-dimensional image of the object as well as positioning the line scan camera at an optimal angle of view to obtain accurate single scan image data. The scan line angle of view is dynamically swept in a rotational manner about an axis of rotation which is parallel to the scan line under the control of either a dedicated drive mechanism or coupled to pre-existing drive mechanisms in the robotic hand mechanism.