Dr. Johannes Heidenhain Gmbh

Automotive Distance Control Systems Gmbh

Robert Kraus

Wolfgang Holzapfel

Johann Mitterreiter

Markus Meissner

Michael Stepputat

Florian Schindler

Wilfried Mehr

Robert Sturm

Holger Schanz

Bernhard Pletschacher

Manuel Scherer

Joel Heersink

Robert Metzke

Markus Meißner

Markus Eberl

Manuuel Scherer

Stefan Birnbacher

A measuring device includes a movable probe head and an optical position sensing device for determining the spatial position and orientation of the probe head relative to a reference point. The position sensing device includes at least three position determination modules, arranged as a transmission unit or as a receiving unit, at least one position determination module being situated on the probe head, and at least one position determination module being situated at the reference point. A transmission unit has transmission unit marking element(s). A receiving unit includes optoelectronic detector(s) and receiving unit marking element(s), positioned in a defined spatial relationship relative to the optoelectronic detector. Visual contacts exist between at least some of the position determination modules. The position determination module on the probe head and the position determination module at the reference point are connected by at least one uninterrupted chain of visual contacts.

Measuring device

A position measuring arrangement that includes a retroreflector, a light source generating a lightbeam and a scanning unit that generates a partially-divergent lightbeam. The scanning unit includes a scanning mirror mounted so it is deflected in a reproducible manner so that a grid-like scanning of a two-dimensional spatial area by the partially-divergent lightbeam takes place over a plurality of scanning tracks. The position measuring arrangement including an interferometric distance measuring unit that includes a beam splitter element that splits the lightbeam generated by the light source so that split lightbeams pass through a reference arm and a measuring arm at least once in each direction. The interferometric distance measuring unit includes an opto-electronic detector unit, through which a detection of distance-dependent signals from superimposed lightbeams from the reference arm and the measuring arm takes place.

Position measuring arrangement

A light beam is deflected by refraction and total internal reflection through a first prism, and projected through a first lens onto a scene that is to be scanned. The prism rotates, which varies the deflection angle and scans the beam across the scene along a scan line. Preferably, the successive side surfaces of the prism have different tilt angles relative to the rotation axis, so as to respectively deflect the beam in different deflection planes which cause successive scan lines of the beam across the scene. The emitted beam gives rise to a reflected beam from the scene, which is received through a second lens and deflected onto a photodetector through a second prism congruent to and rotating synchronously with the first prism. This apparatus is suitable as a laser scanning device for an object recognition system or a spacing distance regulation system of a motor vehicle.

Method and apparatus for optically scanning a scene

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Trostberg, Germany

Robert Kraus