Method for determining the spatial coordinates of points, application of said method to high-precision topography, system and optical device for carrying out said method
First Claim
1. A method for determining the spatial coordinates of points (A) at which are placed elements of an optical system, the optical system comprising an optical device (13) including a pulsed laser source (14) and a detector (16) which is sensitive to the radiation emanating from said laser source (14), and reflectors (10), the method comprising the steps of:
- emitting pulses of light from said laser source (14);
forming a conical divergent beam by causing the pulses of laser radiation emanating from the laser source to diverge;
collecting the radiation reflected from the reflectors (10) in a wide field in order to transmit the same to the detector;
detecting said pulses of light which are reflected from a reflector and collected, by means of said detector (16);
measuring the transit times (Dti) of the pulses emitted by the laser source (14), reflected from a reflector (10) and detected by the detector (16); and
determining relationships between said spatial coordinates in response to said transmit times measured in said step of measuring.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Elements of an optical system are placed at points (A) and the spatial coordinates of these points are measured. The optical system comprises on the one hand an optical device which may be mounted on board an aircraft (2) and on the other hand reflectors (10) such as reflectors of the cube corner type. The optical device includes a pulsed laser source and a detector which is sensitive to the radiation emanating from the laser source. The desired spatial coordinates are determined from measurements of transit times of reflected laser pulses.
The pulses (8) emitted by the laser source are caused to diverge in order to increase the width of their angular field and the radiation reflected from the reflectors (10) is collected in a wide field and transmitted to the detector.
The system is applicable in particular to high-precision topography for the purpose of analyzing land subsidence.
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Citations
34 Claims
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1. A method for determining the spatial coordinates of points (A) at which are placed elements of an optical system, the optical system comprising an optical device (13) including a pulsed laser source (14) and a detector (16) which is sensitive to the radiation emanating from said laser source (14), and reflectors (10), the method comprising the steps of:
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emitting pulses of light from said laser source (14); forming a conical divergent beam by causing the pulses of laser radiation emanating from the laser source to diverge; collecting the radiation reflected from the reflectors (10) in a wide field in order to transmit the same to the detector; detecting said pulses of light which are reflected from a reflector and collected, by means of said detector (16); measuring the transit times (Dti) of the pulses emitted by the laser source (14), reflected from a reflector (10) and detected by the detector (16); and determining relationships between said spatial coordinates in response to said transmit times measured in said step of measuring. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 33, 34)
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14. A system for determining the spatial coordinates of points, comprising:
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an optical device (13) including; a pulsed laser source (14), a detector (16) which is sensitive to the radiation emanating form said laser source (14), divergent optical means (26,
28) for causing divergence of the radiation emitted by the laser source (14) in order to form a conical divergent beam (8), anda wide-field light collector (30) placed in front of the detector (16) in order to transmit thereto radiation which is collected in a wide field; reflectors (10) which reflect radiation from the pulsed laser source to the detector; and means (34, 36,
68) for processing the output signal of the detector (16). - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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Specification