LASER RADAR PROJECTION WITH OBJECT FEATURE DETECTION AND RANGING
First Claim
1. A laser projection system, comprising:
- a laser projector that projects a light beam to the surface of an object and scans that projected light beam over at least a portion of the surface, wherein a portion of the projected light beam is diffusely reflected from the surface back to the system as a feedback light beam;
a first optical signal detector that receives the feedback light beam and converts it to an image signal, wherein the projected light beam and the feedback light beam are associated with a given point on the surface and propagate in opposite directions along a common propagation path;
a light suppression system for suppressing unwanted light from entering the first optical signal detector; and
a computer for comparing the image signal with a corresponding reference signal to produce a measurement of the distance from the laser projector to the object surface, and controlling the system to buck the laser projector into a coordinate system of the object using three or more features on the object, wherein at least one of the three or more features serves as a targetless fiducial point.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A laser projection system is disclosed. The system includes a laser projector that projects a light beam to the surface of an object and scans that projected light beam over at least a portion of the surface, wherein a portion of the projected beam is diffusely reflected from the surface back to the system. The system further includes an optical signal detector that receives the feedback light beam and converts it to an image signal, a light suppression means for suppressing unwanted light from entering the optical signal detector, and a computer for producing a measurement of the distance from the projector to the object surface, and controlling the system to buck the laser projector into a coordinate system of the object using three or more features on the object, wherein at least one of the three or more features serves as a targetless fiducial point.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A laser projection system, comprising:
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a laser projector that projects a light beam to the surface of an object and scans that projected light beam over at least a portion of the surface, wherein a portion of the projected light beam is diffusely reflected from the surface back to the system as a feedback light beam; a first optical signal detector that receives the feedback light beam and converts it to an image signal, wherein the projected light beam and the feedback light beam are associated with a given point on the surface and propagate in opposite directions along a common propagation path; a light suppression system for suppressing unwanted light from entering the first optical signal detector; and a computer for comparing the image signal with a corresponding reference signal to produce a measurement of the distance from the laser projector to the object surface, and controlling the system to buck the laser projector into a coordinate system of the object using three or more features on the object, wherein at least one of the three or more features serves as a targetless fiducial point. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A laser projection system, comprising:
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a laser projector that projects a light beam to the surface of an object and scans that projected light beam over at least a portion of the surface, wherein a portion of the projected light beam is diffusely reflected from the surface back to the system as a feedback light beam; a first optical signal detector that receives the feedback light beam and converts it to an image signal, wherein the projected light beam and the feedback light beam are associated with a given point on the surface and propagate in opposite directions along a common propagation path; a light suppression system for suppressing unwanted light from entering the first optical signal detector, and comprising a spatial light filter that admits the feedback light beam to the first optical signal detector while substantially blocking stray light; a computer for comparing the image signal with a corresponding reference signal to produce a measurement of the distance from the laser projector to the object surface, and controlling the system to buck the laser projector into a coordinate system of the object using three or more features on the object, wherein at least one of the three or more features serves as a targetless fiducial point, and wherein the computer further controls scanning of the laser projector as an iterated raster scanning over all or a selected portion of the object to obtain valid three-dimensional and related light information for substantially all scan pixels; a beam splitter located in the propagation path that divides the projected light beam into a reference beam portion and a signal beam portion; a second optical signal detector that converts the reference beam portion into a corresponding electrical reference signal; an electronic circuit that samples the reference beam and the image signal at a rate sufficient to provide accurate values for elapsed time-of-flight and intensity of the feedback light beam; a clock that synchronizes operation of the laser projector, electronic circuit, and computer; and a dynamic range modulator that adjusts operation of the system, including varying the intensity of the projected beam, in response to light reflective characteristics of the object, wherein the dynamic range variation is on the order of at least 100,000.
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20. A method for making a laser projection system, the method comprising:
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providing a laser projector configured for projecting a light beam to the surface of an object and scanning that projected light beam over at least a portion of the surface; providing a first optical signal detector configured for receiving a feedback light beam, the feedback light beam being a portion of the projected light beam that is diffusely reflected from the surface back to the laser projector, and for converting that feedback light beam to an image signal, wherein the projected light beam and the feedback light beam are associated with a given point on the surface and propagate in opposite directions along a common propagation path; providing a light suppression system configured for suppressing unwanted light from entering the first optical signal detector; and providing a computer configured for comparing the image signal with a corresponding reference signal to produce a measurement of the distance from the laser projector to the object surface, and for controlling the laser projection to buck the laser projector into a coordinate system of the object using three or more features on the object, wherein at least one of the three or more features serves as a targetless fiducial point.
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Specification