What is a laser rangefinder?

A laser rangefinder is a precision instrument that utilizes a laser beam for non-contact distance measurement. It calculates the distance to a target object by transmitting a beam of laser pulses to the target object and receiving the light signal reflected back from the target, and calculating the distance to the target object by measuring the time difference or phase difference of the round trip of the laser. Laser rangefinders are widely used in many fields because of their fast measuring speed, high accuracy, wide range of application and other characteristics.

Components of a laser rangefinder:

1、Laser emitter: Usually adopts high brightness green LED or laser diode as the light source, which can emit high energy laser pulse. Green laser is widely used in the field of distance measurement because of its good visibility to human eyes and high energy concentration.

2、 Telecentric optical system: Including the light-emitting side of the telecentric lens and receiving side of the telecentric lens. The telecentric lens is designed to reduce the field of view angle changes caused by changes in the measurement distance to ensure the accuracy of the measurement at different distances. The light-emitting side lens is responsible for emitting the laser beam in the form of parallel light or near-parallel light, while the receiving side lens is responsible for collecting the light signal reflected back from the target.

3、Signal receiver: The receiver is often used inside the CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor) image sensor or other high-sensitivity photodetector, the received optical signal is converted to an electrical signal. CMOS sensors due to its high integration, low power consumption and fast response capability, in the laser rangefinder has been widely used.

4、Signal Processing Circuit: This part is responsible for processing the received electrical signals, including amplification, filtering, time measurement (for pulse rangefinder) or phase detection (for phase rangefinder), etc., in order to calculate the time difference or phase difference of the laser round trip.

5、Calculation and display unit: According to the measured time difference or phase difference, combined with the speed of light and other physical parameters, calculate the distance to the target object, and output the measurement results through the display or interface.

Application of laser rangefinders:

1. Industrial automation: In production lines, laser range finders can be used to monitor and control the position, size and shape of objects in real time, improving production efficiency and product quality.

2. Robot navigation: In the field of robotics, laser rangefinders are one of the key components to realize autonomous navigation and obstacle avoidance, helping robots to plan their paths and avoid obstacles by measuring the distance information of the surrounding environment.

3. Construction Measurement: In the construction industry, laser rangefinders can be used to measure house dimensions, wall flatness, height difference, etc. to improve measurement accuracy and efficiency.

4. Aerospace: In the aerospace field, laser rangfinders can be used for satellite positioning, Earth surface topography measurement, aircraft navigation, etc., providing accurate data support for aerospace activities.

5. Security monitoring: In traffic monitoring, border patrol and other scenes, laser rangefinders can be used to monitor vehicle speed, personnel distance, etc., to improve the accuracy and timeliness of security monitoring.