Detector for optically determining a position of at least one object

• US 10,094,927 B2
• Filed: 09/28/2015
• Issued: 10/09/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 09/29/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: BASF SE
• Original Assignee: BASF SE
• Inventors: Send, Robert, Bruder, Ingmar, Irle, Stephan, Thiel, Erwin
• Primary Examiner(s): Ton, Tri T
• Application Number:
  US15/514,830
• Publication Number:
  US 20170219709A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,107 Days
• Field of Search: 356614-624
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 3/08 Use of electric radiation detectors
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/42 Simultaneous measurement of distance and other co-ordinates indirect measurement G01S17/46
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 3/784 using a mosaic of detectors
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/4816 of receivers alone
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/51 Display arrangements

Abstract

A detector (110) and a method for optically determining a position of at least one object (112). The detector (110) comprises at least one optical sensor (114) for determining a position of at least one light beam (134) and at least one evaluation device (164) for generating at least one item of information on a transversal position of the object (112) and at least one item of information on a longitudinal position of the object (112). The sensor (114) has at least a first electrode (126) and a second electrode (128). At least one photovoltaic material (130) is embedded in between the first electrode (126) and the second electrode (128). The first electrode (126) or the second electrode (128) is a split electrode (136) having at least three partial electrodes (140, 142, 144, 146). The detector and the method can determine three-dimensional coordinates of an object in a fast and efficient way.

Claims

1. A detector for optically determining a position of at least one object, comprising:

at least one optical sensor for determining a position of at least one light beam traveling from the object to the detector, wherein the optical sensor has at least a first electrode and a second electrode, wherein at least one photovoltaic material is embedded in between the first electrode and the second electrode, wherein the photovoltaic material is adapted to generate electric charges in response to an illumination of the photovoltaic material with light, wherein the first electrode or the second electrode is a split electrode having at least three partial electrodes, wherein each partial electrode is adapted to generate at least one sensor signal, wherein the sensor signal is dependent on a beam cross-section of the light beam in a sensor region of the optical sensor;

at least one evaluation device, wherein the evaluation device is designed to generate at least one item of information on a transversal position of the object, the transversal position being a position in at least one plane perpendicular an optical axis of the detector, by evaluating the sensor signal of pairs of the partial electrodes, and wherein the evaluation device is designed to generate at least one item of information on a longitudinal position of the object by evaluating a sum of the sensor signals of all partial electrodes.

2. The detector according to claim 1, wherein the optical sensor comprises at least one dye-sensitized solar cell.

3. The detector according to claim 2, wherein the optical sensor at least comprises the first electrode, at least one n-semiconducting metal oxide, at least one dye, at least one p-semiconducting organic material, and at least the second electrode.

4. The detector according to claim 3, wherein the first electrode is the split electrode, wherein the n-semiconducting metal oxide, the dye, the p-semiconducting organic material, and the second electrode are transparent.

5. The detector according to claim 4, wherein the first electrode is at least partially made of at least one conductive oxide, wherein the second electrode is at least partially made of a transparent electrically conductive polymer.

6. The detector according to claim 1, wherein the split electrode has two pairs of two partial electrodes, wherein two sides of each partial electrode adjoin one side of a further partial electrode.

7. The detector according to claim 1, wherein no gap remains between two adjacent partial electrodes.

8. The detector according to claim 7, wherein the two adjacent partial electrodes partially overlap each other, wherein an overlap area is created, wherein the overlap area is 1% or less than an area of each of the overlapping partial electrode.

9. The detector according to claim 1, wherein electrical currents through the partial electrodes are dependent on a position of the light beam in the sensor region, wherein the optical sensor is adapted to generate the sensor signal in accordance with the electrical currents through the partial electrodes.

10. The detector according to claim 1, wherein the evaluation device is designed to generate the item of information on the transversal position of the object, first, by forming sums of the sensor signals of pairs of adjacent partial electrodes located perpendicular to a selected direction within the plane, second, by forming at least one difference between the sums of the sensor signals of the pairs of the adjacent partial electrodes within the selected direction, and, third, by dividing the difference by the sum of the sensor signals of all partial electrodes.

11. The detector according to claim 1, wherein the evaluation device is designed to generate the at least one item of information on the longitudinal position of the object from at least one predefined relationship between the geometry of the illumination and a relative positioning of the object with respect to the detector.

12. The detector according to claim 11, wherein the evaluation device, in order to determine the at least one item of information on the longitudinal position of the object, is adapted to compare the diameter of the light beam with known beam properties of the light beam.

13. The detector according to claim 1, wherein the optical sensor exhibits a shape selected from a group comprising a planar, a planar-convex, a planar-concave, a biconvex, or a biconcave form.

14. The detector according to claim 1, wherein the detector further comprises at least one transfer device.

15. The detector according to claim 14, wherein the transfer device comprises at least one focus-tunable lens and/or an electro-wetting device.

16. The detector according to claim 1, furthermore comprising at least one illumination source.

17. The detector according to claim 1, wherein the optical sensor is furthermore designed in such a way that the sensor signal, given the same total power of the illumination, is dependent on a modulation frequency of a modulation of the illumination.

18. The detector according to claim 17, wherein the item of information on the transversal position of the object is separated from the item of information on the longitudinal position of the object by evaluating a frequency dependency of the sensor signals.

19. The detector according to claim 1, comprising at least two of the optical sensors, wherein the optical sensors are located in a collimated arrangement in a manner that they are aligned in an orientation parallel to the optical axis of the detector and exhibit an individual displacement in the orientation perpendicular to the optical axis of the detector.

20. A human-machine interface for exchanging at least one item of information between a user and a machine, wherein the human-machine interface comprises at least one detector according to claim 1, wherein the human-machine interface is designed to generate at least one item of geometrical information of the user with the detector wherein the human-machine interface is designed to assign to the geometrical information at least one item of information.

21. An entertainment device for carrying out at least one entertainment function, wherein the entertainment device comprises at least one human-machine interface according to claim 20, wherein the entertainment device is designed to enable at least one item of information to be input by a player with the human-machine interface, wherein the entertainment device is designed to vary the entertainment function in accordance with the information.

22. A tracking system for tracking the position of at least one movable object, the tracking system comprising at least one detector according to claim 1, the tracking system further comprising at least one track controller, wherein the track controller is adapted to track a series of positions of the object, each position comprising at least one item of information on a transversal position of the object at a specific point in time and at least one item of information on a longitudinal position of the object at a specific point in time.

23. A scanning system for determining at least one position of at least one object, the scanning system comprising at least one detector according to claim 1, the scanning system further comprising at least one illumination source adapted to emit at least one light beam configured for an illumination of at least one dot located at least one surface of the at least one object, wherein the scanning system is designed to generate at least one item of information about the distance between the at least one dot and the scanning system by using the at least one detector.

24. A stereoscopic system comprising at least one tracking system, wherein the tracking system and the scanning system each comprise at least one optical sensor which are located in a collimated arrangement in a manner that they are aligned in an orientation parallel to the optical axis of the stereoscopic system and exhibit an individual displacement in the orientation perpendicular to the optical axis of the stereoscopic system,

wherein each of the tracking system and the scanning system comprises at least one detector according to claim 1.

25. A camera for imaging at least one object, the camera comprising at least one detector according to claim 1.

26. A method for optically determining a position of at least one object, the method comprising:

determining a position of at least one light beam with at least one optical sensor

Wherein, during said determining, the optical sensor determines a position of at least one light beam traveling from the object to the detector, wherein the optical sensor has at least a first electrode and a second electrode, wherein at least one photovoltaic material is embedded in between the first electrode and the second electrode, wherein the photovoltaic material is adapted to generate electric charges in response to an illumination of the photovoltaic material with light, wherein the first electrode or the second electrode is a split electrode having at least three partial electrodes, wherein each partial electrode is adapted to generate at least one sensor signal, wherein the sensor signal is dependent on a beam cross-section of the light beam in a sensor region of the optical sensor; and

generating at least one item of information,

wherein, during said generating, at least one evaluation device generates at least one item of information on a transversal position of the object, the transversal position being a position in at least one plane perpendicular an optical axis of the detector, by evaluating the sensor signal of pairs of the partial electrodes, and wherein the evaluation device further generates at least one item of information on a longitudinal position of the object by evaluating a sum of the sensor signals of all partial electrodes.