METHOD FOR OPTICALLY SCANNING AND MEASURING AN ENVIRONMENT

• US 20120140244A1
• Filed: 07/29/2010
• Published: 06/07/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 08/20/2009
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Faro Technologies Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Faro Technologies Incorporated
• Inventors: Gittinger, Jürgen, Becker, Reinhard, Ossig, Martin
• Application Number:
  US13/389,026
• Publication Number:
  US 20120140244A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 356/612
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/36 with phase comparison between the received signal and the contemporaneously transmitted signal
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/42 Simultaneous measurement of distance and other co-ordinates indirect measurement G01S17/46
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/89 for mapping or imaging
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/481 Constructional features, e.g. arrangements of optical elements
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/497 Means for monitoring or calibrating

Abstract

A method for optically scanning and measuring an environment of a laser scanner includes the steps of emitting an emission light beam by a light emitter, reflecting the emission light beam by a mirror into the environment, wherein several complete revolutions are made during rotation of the measuring head, receiving a reception light beam by a light receiver via the mirror, which reception light beam is reflected by an object in the environment of the laser scanner , and determining for a multitude of measuring points of the scan, at least the distance of the center to the object, wherein the measuring head makes more than half a revolution for the scan, and wherein at least some measuring points are doubly determined.

Claims

1. A method for optically scanning and measuring an environment of a laser scanner having a measuring head with a light emitter and a light receiver, a mirror rotatable about a first axis relative to the measuring head, a base relative to which the measuring head is rotatable about a second axis, a control and evaluation unit, and a center which, for a scan, defines the stationary reference system of the laser scanner and the center of the scan, the method comprising the steps of:

emitting an emission light beam from the light emitter;

reflecting the emission light beam by the mirror into the environment, wherein several complete revolutions are made during rotation of the measuring head;

receiving a reception light beam via the mirror by the light receiver, the reception light beam being reflected by an object in the environment of the laser scanner;

determining by the control and evaluation unit for a multitude of measuring points of the scan, at least a distance of the center to the object, wherein the measuring head makes more than half a revolution for the scan, and wherein at least some of the measuring points are doubly determined.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the measuring head makes a full revolution for the scan, thereby determining all of the measuring points twice.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein deviations of the doubly determined measuring points are determined and used for calibration and compensation of the laser scanner.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the deviations of the doubly determined measuring points are used for correction of all of the measuring points.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein deviations of coordinates of those one or more of the measuring points which actually correspond to each other are determined.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the deviations of the coordinates of the measuring points which actually correspond to each other are determined by error-correction methods.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the environment of the laser scanner is provided with targets.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein, due to the rotation of the measuring head, areas of the scan overlap in such a way that some of the targets are doubly registered.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein a verification of the data is carried out by the measuring points doubly determined.