Hexagon Technology Center Gmbh

Simon Bestler

Jürg Hinderling

Rainer Wohlgenannt

Jochen Scheja

Marcel Rohner

Andreas Walser

Reto Stutz

Julien Singer

Thomas Piok

Peter Kipfer

Markus Geser

Benjamin Seifert

Martin De Lange

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 target reflector search device. This device comprises an emitting unit for emitting an emission fan, a motorized device for moving the emission fan over a spatial region, and a receiving unit for reflected portions of the emission fan within a fan-shaped acquisition region, and a locating unit for determining a location of the reflection. An optoelectronic detector of the receiving unit is formed as a position-resolving optoelectronic detector having a linear arrangement of a plurality of pixels, each formed as an SPAD array, and the receiving unit comprises an optical system having an imaging fixed-focus optical unit, wherein the optical system and the optoelectronic detector are arranged and configured in such a way that portions of the optical radiation reflected from a point in the acquisition region are expanded on the sensitivity surface of the optoelectronic detector in such a way that blurry imaging takes place.

Automatic locating of target marks

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

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

A measuring device, in particular a tachymeter, laser scanner, profiler, or laser tracker, having an electronic laser distance measuring module, which comprises an optical transmitting channel having a transmitting unit and an optical receiving channel having a receiving unit for laser measuring radiation, wherein the beam guiding in the electronic laser distance measuring module is implemented by means of fiber optics, and wherein a settable attenuation unit based on an optically active crystal for attenuating the laser measuring radiation generated by the transmitting unit is provided in the optical transmitting channel.

Dynamic expansion of a distance measuring device having a variable optical attenuation element in the transmitting channel

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 relate to a surveying apparatus in the form of a scanner comprising a beam deflection unit, such a beam deflection unit and a measuring method to be carried out with said surveying apparatus. The surveying apparatus comprises a radiation source for generating measurement radiation and a detector for receiving reflected measurement radiation, called reflection radiation for short, which was reflected at an object of interest, wherein measurement radiation and reflection radiation have substantially the same optical path. Situated in said optical path there is a beam deflection unit mounted rotatably about a rotation axis and serving for adjustably aligning the measurement radiation and for capturing the reflected radiation.

Scanner for space measurement

The invention relates to a measuring device (), in particular a laser scanner for optically scanning and measuring an environment. The measuring device () comprises a rotatably mounted measuring head () and a rotation unit () mounted therein and having a rotatably mounted rotation body (), wherein a targeting element () for sighting a target point is integrated into the rotation body (), said targeting element comprising an opening (') passing through the rotation body ().

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Langenargen, Germany

Simon Bestler