Position and orientation measurement device
First Claim
1. A device for non-contacting measurement of the orientation in space of a measuring object, comprisinga retro-reflector rigidly attached to said object,reference mark means provided on said retro-reflector,light source means for generating a collimated light beam,beam directing means for directing said collimated light beam onto said retro-reflector, said light beam being returned by said retro-reflector substantially into itself,means for receiving said returned light beam for forming therefrom a picture of said reference mark means,picture detecting means for detecting said picture of said reference mark means and for providing corresponding picture information, andprocessing means for deriving, from said picture information, output data representing the orientation in space of said retro-reflector and thereby the orientation in space of said measuring object.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A device for non-contacting measurement of the orientation in space of a movable measuring object, such as the end-effector of a robot, uses a retro-reflector having three mutually orthogonal reflecting surfaces. This retro-reflector is rigidly attached to the measuring object. Reference marks are provided on the retro-reflector. A laser emits a laser beam. A beam expander optical system in the path of the laser beam provides a collimated light beam of larger diameter than that of said laser beam. The light beam passes through a stationary section, where the path of rays of the light beam is stationary, to a beam directing device. The beam directing device directs collimated light beam onto the retro-reflector. The light beam is returned by the retro-reflector substantially into itself. The beam directing means has movable reflecting surfaces for tracking, with said light beam, the movable measuring object. A semi-transparent mirror is arranged in the stationary section of the returned light beam for deflecting part of this returned light beam to a plane where a picture with a pattern caused by the reference mark is formed. A picture detector is arranged in this plane, and detects the picture of the reference mark and provides corresponding picture information. A processor derives, from this picture information, output data representing the orientation in space of the retro-reflector and thereby the orientation in space of the measuring object.
116 Citations
22 Claims
-
1. A device for non-contacting measurement of the orientation in space of a measuring object, comprising
a retro-reflector rigidly attached to said object, reference mark means provided on said retro-reflector, light source means for generating a collimated light beam, beam directing means for directing said collimated light beam onto said retro-reflector, said light beam being returned by said retro-reflector substantially into itself, means for receiving said returned light beam for forming therefrom a picture of said reference mark means, picture detecting means for detecting said picture of said reference mark means and for providing corresponding picture information, and processing means for deriving, from said picture information, output data representing the orientation in space of said retro-reflector and thereby the orientation in space of said measuring object.
-
18. A device for non-contacting measurement of the orientation in space of a movable measuring object, comprising
a retro-reflector having three mutually orthogonal reflecting surfaces, said retro-reflector being rigidly attached to said measuring object, reference mark means provided on said retro-reflector, a laser emitting a laser beam and beam expander means in the path of the laser beam for providing a collimated light beam of larger diameter than that of said laser beam, said light beam passing through a stationary section, where the path of rays of the light beam is stationary, to beam directing means for directing said collimated light beam onto said retro-reflector, said light beam being returned by said retro-reflector substantially into itself, said beam directing means comprising movable reflecting means for tracking, with said light beam, said movable measuring object semi-transparent mirror means arranged in said stationary section of said returned light beam for deflecting part of said returned light beam to a plane where a picture with a pattern caused by said reference mark means is formed, picture detecting means, arranged in said plane, for detecting said picture of said reference mark means and for providing corresponding picture information, and processing means for deriving, from said picture information, output data representing the orientation in space of said retro-reflector and thereby the orientation in space of said measuring object.
Specification