Active target distance measurement
First Claim
1. A method of measuring distance to a target comprising:
- reflecting a pulse off a target, splitting said reflected pulse into two, one part being used for calibration energy retrieval and one part being gated for gated energy retrieval;
retrieving energy from said reflected pulse over a predetermined gating period and measuring a level of said retrieved energy, determining a distance of said target by comparing said measured retrieved energy level from said target over said predetermined gating period with a calibration energy level.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Apparatus for determining a distance of a target, the apparatus comprising a pulse transmitter, a gatable beam detector, and a comparator, the gatable beam detector being operable to obtain gated and calibration beam energy information of a pulse transmitted by the beam pulse transmitter for reflection from the target, and to pass the beam energy information to the comparator, thereby to obtain a ratio between the gated and the calibration beam energy, the ratio being inversely proportional to the distance. Also an array thereof for simultaneously obtaining distances of a multiplicity of points of a three-dimensional object in real time, in particular to obtain movement information of the target.
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Citations
15 Claims
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1. A method of measuring distance to a target comprising:
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reflecting a pulse off a target, splitting said reflected pulse into two, one part being used for calibration energy retrieval and one part being gated for gated energy retrieval;
retrieving energy from said reflected pulse over a predetermined gating period and measuring a level of said retrieved energy, determining a distance of said target by comparing said measured retrieved energy level from said target over said predetermined gating period with a calibration energy level. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method of measuring distance to a target comprising:
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reflecting a pulse off a target, retrieving energy from said reflected pulse over a predetermined gating period and measuring a level of said retrieved energy, determining a distance of said target by comparing said measured retrieved energy level from said target over said predetermined gating period with a calibration energy level, said pulse comprising light, the method further comprising;
splitting incoming light into two parts, one part for analysis of said reflected pulse to determine distance information and a second part being used to obtain image information. - View Dependent Claims (10)
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- 11. Apparatus for determining a distance of a target, said apparatus comprising a pulse transmitter, a gatable beam detector, and a comparator, said gatable beam detector being operable to obtain gated and calibration beam energy information of a pulse transmitted by said beam pulse transmitter for reflection from said target, and to pass said beam energy information to said comparator, thereby to obtain a ratio between said gated and said calibration beam energy, said ratio being inversely proportional to said distance, said pulse beam transmitter being operable to transmit a pulse having a predetermined width, said gatable beam detector being operable to be gated at least twice the predetermined width and at the predetermined width, thereby to produce a total reflected energy of said pulse for said calibration energy, and said gated pulse energy, and two sub-detectors, one gated at said at least twice the predetermined width and the other gated at said predetermined width.
Specification