Laser radar projection with object feature detection and ranging
First Claim
1. A 3D laser scanner and projection system that can detect features detection on and range distance to points on the surface of an object, comprising:
- a laser projector that projects a pulsed laser light beam on the surface and scans the pulsed output beam along a beam path over the surface where a portion of said output light is diffusely reflected from the surface back to said projector as a feedback signal light beam,a first optical signal detector at said laser projector that receives said feedback signal light beam and converts it into a digital image signal that corresponds to the detected feedback signal light, anda suppression system that controls stray light against reaching said optical detector that would prevent the detection of said feedback signal light,said projected light beam and said feedback signal light beam associated with a given point on the surface propagating in opposite directions along said beam path; and
a time-of-flight measuring system that calculates the elapsed time of flight and distance traveled of pulses from said laser, to points on the object surface, and back via said signal light feedback beam to said detector.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A 3D pulsed laser projection system scans an object to produce a dense 3D point cloud and projects a laser light beam onto an object as a glowing template. A high-sensitivity optical feedback system receives and detects a feedback beam of the output beam light diffusely reflected from the object. The feedback light and projected beam share the same beam path between steering mirrors and the object. A light suppression component controls stray scattered light, including ambient light, from being detected. A time-of-flight measurement subsystem provides a distance-to-object measurement for projected pulses. An acousto-optical modulator, variable gain detected signal amplification and variable photo-detector power together produce a dynamic range for detected reflected feedback signals of at least 100,000, and up to 500,000. Optical fiber cables spatially filter scattered light and isolate the photo-detectors thermally. The laser is preferably pulsed at least 50 kHz, with sampling of the projected and feedback reflected optical pulse signals at a sampling rate of up to 10 gigasamples per second.
119 Citations
24 Claims
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1. A 3D laser scanner and projection system that can detect features detection on and range distance to points on the surface of an object, comprising:
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a laser projector that projects a pulsed laser light beam on the surface and scans the pulsed output beam along a beam path over the surface where a portion of said output light is diffusely reflected from the surface back to said projector as a feedback signal light beam, a first optical signal detector at said laser projector that receives said feedback signal light beam and converts it into a digital image signal that corresponds to the detected feedback signal light, and a suppression system that controls stray light against reaching said optical detector that would prevent the detection of said feedback signal light, said projected light beam and said feedback signal light beam associated with a given point on the surface propagating in opposite directions along said beam path; and a time-of-flight measuring system that calculates the elapsed time of flight and distance traveled of pulses from said laser, to points on the object surface, and back via said signal light feedback beam to said detector. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A method for assembling component parts with precision placement, and fabrication processing and/or verification in space, onto and/or supported by an object, comprising,
projecting a scanned pulsed laser light beam onto the object, forming a signal channel portion of said pulsed laser light beam that is projected onto the object and a reference channel portion that is not projected, selecting features on the object before assembly, said selecting including creating a scan box around a selected feature, scanning said projected light beam within the scan box, detecting light diffusely reflected back from said object along said scanned laser light beam signal portion, substantially suppressing light from entering the detector so as to adversely affect its detection of said feedback light, creating a digital image of said features from said detected feedback light, said creating including coupling the time of flight of a pulse of said signal channel portion light beam to the corresponding pulse in the reference channel portion to provide projection-to-object range information for scanned object points, and projecting a glowing template on the object that guides the assembly of the parts or fabrication processing or verification on or to the object.
Specification