Evaluating fabric fuzziness using laser range sensing

This paper introduces a high-resolution 3-D scanning system for objective evaluation of fabric fuzziness using laser range-sensing technology. This system consists of a laser range sensor, a 2-D mechanical stage, and a computer with dedicated software. The paper covers the process of surface digitization from 3-D scanning, image-processing techniques for surface feature description, and methods for characterization of fabric fuzziness. It also reports a preliminary test on a set of fabrics that were treated in different laundering cycles to gain different levels of fuzziness. The test demonstrates that this system has great potential for discriminating among fabric fuzziness levels in a quantitative and reliable manner.