Absolute distance meter that measures a moving retroreflector

Abstract

A laser device and method capable of one or more dimensional absolute distance measurements and / or surface scanning and / or coordinate measurements of a moving external retroreflector or other moving target surfaces without using an incremental interferometer.

Description

technical background [0001] The present disclosure relates to coordinate measuring equipment. A coordinate measuring device is a class of instruments that measure the coordinates of a point by firing a laser beam at the point. The laser beam may be directed onto the point or may be directed onto a retroreflector target in contact with the point. In either case, the instrument determines the coordinates of the point by measuring the distance to the target and two angles. Distances are measured with distance measuring devices such as absolute range finders or interferometers. The angle is measured with an angle measuring device, such as an angle encoder. A gimbaled beam steering mechanism inside the instrument directs the laser beam to the point of interest. Example systems for determining coordinates of points are described in Brown et al., US Patent 4,790,651 and Lau et al., US Patent 4,714,339. [0002] A laser tracker is a special class of coordinate measuring device th...

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Problems solved by technology

This is because absolute distance measurements are only available for fixed targets

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