Trimble Jena Gmbh

Trimble Inc.

Andreas Frank

Michael Vogel

Richard Bellmann

Ronny Klinghammer

An optical surveying instrument is provided with an optical arrangement that includes at least one lens and the viewing element defining a viewing direction in the field of view. The distance measurement unit emits light beam towards the field of view and measured the distance to an object in the field of view based on a reflection of the light beam from the object. A movable mirror is arranged to direct the light beam towards the object and a mirror control unit is provided for reading calibration values from a calibration value memory and for moving the movable mirror using the calibration values to adjust the direction of the light beam to be aligned with the viewing direction.

Optical surveying instrument with movable mirror

The invention relates to optical surveying such as in building construction, road construction, landscaping and similar. A first image sensor obtains in a first wavelength range a first image of a scene within a field of view captured by an optical arrangement such as a telescope. A light emitter emits light in a second wavelength range and a second image sensor obtains a second image of the field of view in the second wavelength range. A target position of a reflecting target is found in the first image by detecting a known image pattern of the reflecting target in the first image. A region of interest in the second image is then a defined based on the identified target position in the first image, for detecting a reflector position of a reflector of the reflecting target in the region of interest. With the invention it becomes possible to improve the identification of a reflective target at reduced processing time, even if reflections from other objects than the reflective target are present.

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Elgersburg, Germany

Andreas Frank