Patent US 7,423,734

A system for determining depth, height and other reference information with respect to features on a workpiece is disclosed. A camera is mounted in a CNC toolholder so that the lens of the camera is coaxial with a rotational axis of the CNC toolholder. A laser is mounted radially outward from the camera, and directs a laser beam angularly toward the workpiece and within the field of view of the camera. With knowledge of the precise angle of, the laser beam with respect to the rotational axis of the toolholder, height and depth information of features on the workpiece may be obtained from where the reflection of the laser beam falls on the CCD array of the camera. A computer, which may be the computer of the CNC machine, may be provided with the height, depth and other reference information.