The invention discloses detection equipment and an optical detection method. The detection equipment comprises a functional outer box, a damping rack, a platform module and an optical detection device. The platform module comprises a transferring device and an air floating platform. The transferring device is arranged on the air floating platform in a crossing mode so as to transfer a to-be-detected piece between the feeding port and the detection station. The optical detection device comprises a main detection camera assembly, a redetection camera assembly and a positioning camera assembly. The optical detection method comprises the steps of feeding and initial positioning, to-be-detected piece feeding, detection positioning, map matching and initial detection, re-detection to obtain a detection result, detection completion and material returning. According to the equipment, the detection method is executed through the main detection camera assembly, the redetection camera assembly and the positioning camera assembly, positioning, initial detection and redetection of to-be-detected pieces of different specifications are achieved, positioning and navigation are accurate, the vibration absorption performance of the rack is good, the equipment cost is low, the detection efficiency and precision are high, the function integration degree of the whole machine is improved, and the whole machine is low in fault rate and convenient to maintain.