TESTING APPARATUS AND TESTING METHOD FOR A TRAFFIC MONITORING DEVICE WITH A LASER SCANNER

• US 20130258340A1
• Filed: 03/21/2013
• Published: 10/03/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 03/27/2012
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Jenoptik Robot GmbH (Jenoptik AG)
• Original Assignee: Jenoptik Robot GmbH (Jenoptik AG)
• Inventors: LEHNING, Michael, TRUMMER, Michael, GEBAUER, Christoph
• Application Number:
  US13/848,498
• Publication Number:
  US 20130258340A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 356/401
• CPC Class Codes: G01B 11/26 for measuring angles or tapers; for testing the alignment of axes
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/4972 Alignment of sensor

Abstract

A testing apparatus and a testing method for a traffic monitoring device with a laser scanner. The testing apparatus has an adjusting plate which provides a receiving place for receiving a traffic monitoring device which is to be tested and a measuring board. A line pattern along an imaginary straight line extending at the height of the reference scanning plane is provided on the measuring board which has a matte black surface. Vertical lines and a diagonal line are arranged on the straight line, and the diagonal line forms an angle with the straight line, which angle is selected in such a way that laser pulses emitted by the laser scanner form at least three laser spots with a reference laser spot width and a reference laser spot length on the diagonal line.

Claims

1. Testing apparatus for a traffic monitoring device with a laser scanner, comprising an adjusting plate having a receiving place for receiving a traffic monitoring device which is to be tested, and a measuring board which is arranged at a fixed distance from the adjusting plate and which has a line pattern along an imaginary straight line with a plurality of vertical lines running perpendicular to the straight line and with a diagonal line, wherein the adjusting plate and the measuring board can be aligned relative to one another in such a way that the straight line lies in a reference scanning plane of the laser scanner, and the diagonal line intersects the straight line on a perpendicular center line of the measuring board, wherein said diagonal line forms an angle with the straight line, said angle being selected in such a way that laser pulses emitted by the laser scanner form at least three laser spots with a reference laser spot width and a reference laser spot length on said diagonal line.

2. Testing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said angle=arc sign (S_L/2)/(D_L/2), where S_L is the reference laser spot length and D_L is the length of the diagonal line, so that a maximum quantity of laser spots impinge on the diagonal line.

3. Testing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the vertical lines are narrow vertical lines with a line width equal to the reference laser spot width and/or wide vertical lines with a line width equal to a multiple of the reference laser spot width, and the line length of the vertical lines is equal to the reference laser spot length so that a deviation of the scanning plane from the reference scanning plane and a deviation of a zero position of the scanning plane from a reference zero position can be determined.

4. Testing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an attenuation disk provided between the adjusting plate and the measuring board, and wherein the measuring board has a matte black surface with a reflectivity which, in cooperation with the attenuation disk, ensures that a reflection of the laser pulses of a laser beam coming from the laser scanner back into the laser scanner is sufficient to form a distance value from the generated receive signal.

5. Testing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the measuring board has a rectangular shape, and wherein a measuring mark is provided in a center at each of the four edges, and further comprising a test laser mounted on the adjusting plate so as to be aligned therewith, said test laser being suitable for emitting a test laser beam with a cross-shaped beam cross section by which the measuring board and adjusting plate can be aligned relative to one another.

6. Testing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the measuring board has lower projection surfaces at the level of the line pattern, and a test camera is associated with the testing apparatus, said test camera being mounted on the adjusting plate so as to be aligned therewith such that the lower projection surfaces lie in an object plane of the test camera so that laser spots imaged on the lower test surfaces are recorded by the test camera for evaluation.

7. Testing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising two upper projection surfaces carried by said measuring board above the line pattern, and two deflecting mirrors and a test camera are associated with the testing apparatus, wherein the test camera is mounted on the adjusting plate so as to be aligned therewith such that the upper projection surfaces lie in an object plane of the test camera, and the two deflecting mirrors are so arranged that impinging laser pulses impinge on one of the upper projection surfaces in each instance.

8. Testing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the measuring board has at least one mirror surface, and at least one individual mirror is associated with the testing apparatus, and the at least one mirror surface and the at least one individual mirror are arranged with respect to one another and with respect to the adjusting plate such that a laser pulse impinges on the measuring board so as to be repeatedly folded to realize at least one measuring distance corresponding to a multiple of the distance between the adjusting plate and measuring board.

9. Testing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the measuring board has a surrounding white frame which is used for aligning a camera that is possibly associated with the device, and the testing apparatus has an illumination device for illuminating the measuring board.

10. Testing method for a traffic monitoring device with a laser scanner, characterized in that a scanner-specific coordinate system of a traffic monitoring device and a measuring board with a line pattern along an imaginary straight line with a plurality of vertical lines running perpendicular to the straight line and a diagonal line which intersects the straight line on a perpendicular center line of the measuring board, wherein it forms an angle with the straight line, which angle is selected in such a way that at least three laser spots of laser pulses emitted by the laser scanner, which three laser spots have a reference laser spot width and a reference laser spot length, impinge on the diagonal line, are so aligned with respect to one another that the straight line lies in a reference scanning plane of the laser scanner, in that the laser scanner emits a laser beam with a plurality of laser pulses over a scanning angle region, which laser pulses impinge on the measuring board, where each of them forms one of the laser spots, and when impinging on the perpendicularly extending vertical lines and the diagonal line, the laser pulses are reflected in a receiver of the laser scanner, where there are generated receive signals having an amplitude, in that an actual quality curve of the amplitude over the scanning angle is formed from the values of the amplitude of the receive signals and is compared with a known reference quality curve in order to deduce the position of the actual scanning plane compared to the reference scanning plane.