Hexagon Technology Center Gmbh

Leica Geosystems Ag

Rainer Wohlgenannt

Jürg Hinderling

Simon Bestler

Reto Stutz

Marcel Rohner

Andreas Walser

Thomas Piok

Ingo Bednarek

Lukas Baumann

Roman Steffen

Simon Mark

Lukas Heinzle

Julien Singer

Roland Graf

Benjamin Seifert

Martin De Lange

Garance Bruneau

Ralph Harti

Roman Koller

An absolute distance measuring method and device including a transmission unit having a laser array comprising multiple measurement laser emitters arranged along a laser array axis and a receiver unit having at least one receiver array comprising multiple measurement receivers arranged along a receiver array axis for measuring of an absolute distance based on a respective detected transmission beam and the principle of time-of-flight. The laser array comprises at least a first reference laser emitter and the receiver array comprises at least a first reference receiver. The reference laser emitter and reference receiver define an internal absolute distance reference beam path for calibration of the device with respect to said measuring of absolute distance.

Multi-beam measuring device

A reality capture device configured to perform a measuring process for generating a digital representation of an environment comprising a body defining a first axis, and an imaging unit with one or more 2D cameras configured to provide 2D image data of the environment. The device comprises a ToF camera arrangement configured for capturing 3D point-cloud data of the environment and comprising at least two time-of-flight cameras, wherein each time-of-flight camera comprises a sensor array and one or more laser emitters, the sensor array of each of the time-of-flight cameras having an optical axis and being configured to receive reflections of light pulses emitted by the one or more laser emitters of the respective time-of-flight camera, the time-of-flight cameras being arranged around the first axis so that each sensor array has one or two other sensor arrays as a neighbouring sensor array.

Reality capture device

A measuring device comprises a base, a case, and a rotating member rotatable about the axis of rotation. The rotating member comprises a transmission unit configured to emit transmission beams to different beam directions. The rotating member further comprises a receiver unit configured to receive returning transmission beams. A longitudinal member is fixed to the base and extends in a central area of the rotating member along the axis of rotation over a range including the transmission unit and the receiver unit. Two bearing members are arranged on the longitudinal member and on the rotating member. In the direction of the axis of rotation, the transmission unit and the receiver unit are located in a range between the two bearing members. The measuring device has a high aiming accuracy and low hysteresis of the turning transmission beams.

Multi-beam measuring device with high directional stability for 3D scanning of an environment

A distance meter for the high-accuracy single-point distance measurement to a target point by means of an oriented emitted beam, wherein the receiver has an optoelectronic sensor based on an arrangement of microcells for acquiring the received beam. The receiver and a computer unit are configured in this case for deriving a set of runtimes with respect to different cross-sectional components of the received beam acquired using subregions of the receiver, and therefore, for example, an evaluation is enabled as to whether the received beam has parts of the emitted beam reflected on a single target or a multiple target in its lateral extension.

Distance meter comprising SPAD arrangement for consideration of multiple targets

An optoelectronic measuring device having scanning functionality having a pulsed radiation source for generating a measuring beam from light pulses at a light pulse emission rate, an optoelectronic detector for detecting light pulses reflected from a target object, a control and analysis unit designed for measuring a distance value from a respective scanning point of the target object according to the time-of-flight principle, based on a number n&#x3e;=1 of light pulses, wherein the control and analysis unit is designed to automatically set the number (n) depending on a target-object-related measured value determined by the measuring device in real time.

Optoelectronic measuring device having scanning functionality

A measuring apparatus for the three-dimensional geometric acquisition of surroundings by means of a rotating transceiver platform and a multiplicity of transmission channels for emitting pulsed distance measurement beams, wherein in each case a different elevation with respect to a reference plane orthogonal to the rotation axis is scannable with each of the transmission channels. Furthermore, the measuring apparatus comprises a receiving unit having a sensor arrangement of semiconductor photomultiplier sensors, wherein the number of sensors is less than the number of transmission channels, and the transmitting unit and the receiving unit are configured such that at least two of the transmission channels are assigned to a common sensor, which is configured for generating distance measurement data with respect to the at least two transmission channels.

Measuring apparatus for geometric 3D scanning of surroundings with a multiplicity of transmission channels and semiconductor photomultiplier sensors

A measuring appliance for performing distance measurements to an object, with an optical transmitter channel, an optical reception channel, a reference light path and an evaluation device, wherein the optical transmitter channel comprises a transmitter unit and an optical outlet element and the optical reception channel comprises an optical inlet element and a reception unit. The measuring appliance facilitates distance measurements over a measurement light path to the object and back again and over a reference light path. An attenuation device renders a desired signal attenuation attainable in the reference light path. The reference light path is laid out in such a way that it receives laser measurement radiation prior to the passage through the optical outlet element, guides said laser radiation without contact with the surroundings to the attenuation device and forwards an attenuated portion to the reception unit through the optical inlet element.

Distance measuring apparatus with high signal dynamics and a reference light path matched thereto

An optical distance meter configured to carry out a distance measurement in a first measuring mode, in which the distance meter is set for distance measurement on a retroreflective target, and a second measuring mode, in which the distance meter is set for distance measurement on a diffusely scattering target. In this case, a first aperture of the receiving channel is set in the first measuring mode, which is smaller than an aperture set in the second measuring mode.

Optical distance meter having switchable receiving aperture

A distance measuring device comprising a sensor for highly accurate distance measurement with a very high dynamic range and range walk compensation, said sensor being provided by means of an array of single photon avalanche photodiodes.

Distance measuring device with SPAD array and range walk compensenation

A distance measuring method and an electronic laser distance measuring module, in particular for use in a distance measuring apparatus, especially configured as a laser tracker, tachymeter, laser scanner, or profiler, for fast signal detection with an analog-to-digital converter, wherein conversion errors that arise in the context of a signal digitization, in particular timing, gain and offset errors of the ADC, are compensated for by means of variation of the sampling instants.

Laser distance measuring module with INL error compensation

Laser distance measuring module with ADC error compensation by variation of the sampling instants

The invention relates to a distance measurement apparatus for measuring the time of flight of electromagnetic signals, having at least: a transmitter for transmitting coded transmission signals according to a pattern specified by a coder, a receiver for detecting the signals reflected by at least one object as receive signals, a counter unit having a time counter for writing time counter values, which are generated in each case with the transmission of the transmission signals and the receipt of the receive signals, into at least one register, and a control and evaluation unit for calculating the time of flight on the basis of decoding the receive signals and reading the register of the counter unit.

Time-of-flight measurement apparatus and time-of-flight measurement method with ambiguity resolution in real time

Some embodiments of the invention relate to a time measurement circuit for an incoming signal. In some embodiments, the time measurement circuit has a comparator stage, for generating a comparator output signal depending on a fulfillment of a criterion by the incoming signal, wherein exceeding or falling below a threshold value is defined as the criterion. Furthermore, a digitization stage is provided, for sampling, which is performed at a defined sampling rate, of an input signal fed to the digitization stage and converting it into digital data containing sampled values for the input signal, and an evaluation unit for determining a chronological location for the incoming signal by evaluating the digital data.

Time measurement circuit and optoelectronic distance meter having such a time measurement circuit

Some embodiments of the invention include a capacitive linear encoder for determining positions comprising a scale and a read head for capacitively scanning the scale, wherein scale and read head are movable relative to one another. The scale has at least one, preferably capacitive, position reference marker. On the basis of the position references provided by the capacitive position reference marker, the positions are locatable in absolute terms and verifiable.

Capacitive linear encoder

Some embodiments of the invention include an absolute capacitive rotary encoder comprising a first disk, which is rotatable relative a second disk, and a first sensor ring and a second sensor ring. The first and the second sensor ring each have a multiplicity of first coupling electrodes and second coupling electrodes capacitively coupling to one another. The first coupling electrodes of a respective sensor ring have different coupling signal phases. The first sensor ring and the second sensor ring are matched to one another in such a way that an angle is determinable absolutely.

Growing community of inventors

Klaus, Austria

Rainer Wohlgenannt