Patent Grant
9429420
This application is the National Stage filing under 35 U.S.C. 371 of International Application No. PCT/KR2011/009996, filed on Dec. 22, 2011, the contents of which are all hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
The present invention relates to an apparatus for measuring a distance.
Generally, a distance may be obtained using a triangulation method. That is, a distance may be measured if a length of a side and a length of a side are known.
Based on this principle, a distance to an object may be obtained using a position of a light irradiated on an object, reflected from the object, dispersed from the object and formed on a light receiver and an angle of the emitted light. At this time, a position formed on a spot of the light receiver is changed when the distance to the object is changed, and a signal therefrom is detected to calculate a distance.
In general, a distance measuring apparatus that measures a distance to an object using light, such as laser light, performs the measurement using the TOF (Time-Of-Flight) technique and a PSD (Position Sensitive Device) utilizing the difference in angle of light that is reflected off a local object and a remote object.
The time-of-flight (TOF) method is used to measure a distance by detecting the difference between the time at which a light source emits reference light and a time at which an optical sensor detects the reflected light of the reference light, rebounded from a measured object.
As discussed above, many devices and methods measuring a distance to an object using a light are available, and multi-angled technical developments are being waged to better the devices and methods for measuring a distance to an object.
It is an object of the present invention to simplify optical elements and to scan a 3D space by measuring a distance to an object using a single reflector by slantly arranging the reflector or tilting a base mounted with a light transmitter and a light receiver.
In one general object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for measuring a distance, the apparatus comprising:
a tilting base mounted with a light transmitter configured to transmit a light and a light receiver including a photo-detector formed with a spot of the light (optical spot); and
a rotating reflector configured to reflect the light emitted from the light transmitter to an object and to reflect the light reflected or dispersed from the object to the light receiver.
Preferably, but not necessarily, the apparatus may further comprise a tilt driver configured to tilt the base, wherein the tilt driver includes a motor, a first gear mounted on a rotation shaft of the motor, and a second gear meshed with the first gear and formed on the base.
Preferably, but not necessarily, the base may bed tilted to an optical axis emitted from the light transmitter and perpendicular to the rotation shaft of the reflector.
Preferably, but not necessarily, the reflector may be a mirror.
Preferably, but not necessarily, the reflector may include a light reflecting surface configured to reflect the light emitted from the light transmitter to the object, and to reflect the light reflected or dispersed from the object to the light receiver, wherein the light reflecting surface is slanted to the rotation shaft.
Preferably, but not necessarily, the reflector may be a double-sided mirror formed on two sides of the light reflecting surface, or a poly-prism mirror formed on a poly surface of the light reflecting surface.
Preferably, but not necessarily, the light transmitter may include a light source and a collimate lens configured to make the light emitted from the light source to a parallel light.
Preferably, but not necessarily, the light source may be an LD (Laser Diode) or an LED (Light Emitting Diode).
Preferably, but not necessarily, the light receiver may include a light receiving lens configured to concentrate the light dispersed or reflected from the object, and a photo-detector configured to detect a position of the object using the light.
Preferably, but not necessarily, a wavelength selective transmission filter may be interposed between the light receiving lens and the photo-detector for preventing an outside light other than the light emitted from the light source from entering the photo-detector.
Preferably, but not necessarily, the photo-detector may be an image sensor including a plurality of unit pixels arranged in ‘n×m’ matrix to convert an optical signal by the light to an electric signal.
Preferably, but not necessarily, the spot may be formed on unit pixels of a plurality of lines of the image sensor.
Preferably, but not necessarily, the apparatus may further comprise an MCU (Micro Control Unit) configured to process a signal relative to an object distance measured by the photo-detector to output a signal configured to determine whether there is an object distance data or an object.
Preferably, but not necessarily, the MCU may be embedded in a case of the light receiver.
Preferably, but not necessarily, the apparatus may scan an object of up to ±85° based on an axis perpendicular to an axis of light emitted from the light transmitter.
In another general aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for measuring a distance, the apparatus comprising:
a base mounted with a light receiver including a photo-detector formed with a spot of a light from a light transmitter configured to emit a light; and
a rotating reflector configured to reflect the light emitted from the light transmitter to a light reflecting surface, to reflect the light reflected or dispersed from an object to the light receiver, and to allow the light reflecting surface to be slanted to a rotation shaft.
The present invention can advantageously scan a 3D space using a triangulation method to detect whether there is an ambient object and to measure a distance to an object.
Furthermore, the present invention can tilt a base mounted with a light transmitter and a light receive, or arrange a reflector in a slant manner whereby a distance to an object can be measured by a single reflector, and optical elements can be simplified.
Still furthermore, the present invention has an advantageous effect in that a light transmitter can scan an object from both sides to detect the presence of the object and to expand a detection scope for measurement of a distance to the object, whereby more accurate scan is enabled.
Now, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
In describing the present invention, dimensions such as sizes or thicknesses may be exaggerated, omitted, or schematically shown for clarity of illustration. Accordingly, the meaning of specific terms or words used in the specification and claims should not be limited to the literal or commonly employed sense, but should be construed or may be different in accordance with the intention of a user or an operator and customary usages. Therefore, the definition of the specific terms or words should be based on the contents across the specification.
The present invention can simplify mechanical elements of an apparatus for measuring a distance by tilting a base mounted with a light transmitter and a light receiver and receiving, by the light receiver, a light reflected or dispersed from an object by rotating a reflector.
The apparatus for measuring a distance (hereinafter referred to as apparatus) according to the present invention includes
a tilting base (100) mounted with a light transmitter (110) configured to transmit a light and a light receiver (120) including a photo-detector formed with a spot of the light, and a rotating reflector (150) configured to reflect the light emitted from the light transmitter (110) to an object (10) and to reflect the light reflected or dispersed from the object (10) to the light receiver (120), where the base (100) mounted with the light transmitter (110) and the light receiver (120) is tilted to simultaneously tilt the light transmitter (110) and the light receiver (120).
The light emitted from the light transmitter (110) is reflected from the rotating reflector (150) to the object (10), where the light reflected or dispersed from the object (10) is reflected from the reflector (150) to the light receiver (120), whereby the apparatus can measure a distance to an object by scanning a 3-D space to detect the presence or absence of the object.
That is, as illustrated in
To be more specific, one horizontal line is scanned by rotation of the reflector (150), and tilt of the base (100) and rotation of the reflector (150) enable scanning of other horizontal lines, and then, continued performance of rotation of the reflector (150) and the tilt of the base (100) enable the performance of 3-D scanning as illustrated in
At this time, the apparatus may include a tilt driver configured to tilt the base (100), where the tilt driver may include a motor (180), a first gear (181) mounted on the rotation shaft of the motor (180) and a second gear (not shown) meshed with the first gear (181) and formed on the base (100). Reference numeral ‘170’ in
Furthermore, the base (100) is tilted by an optical axis emitted from the light transmitter (110) and an axis (130) perpendicular to rotation shaft of the reflector.
The apparatus according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention can scan in a form of a grid as in
The apparatus for measuring a distance according to the second exemplary embodiment of the present invention may include a base (200) mounted with a light receiver (220) including a photo-detector formed with a spot of a light from a light transmitter (210) configured to emit a light, and a rotating reflector (151) configured to reflect the light emitted from the light transmitter (210) to a light reflecting surface, to reflect the light reflected or dispersed from an object to the light receiver (220), and to allow the light reflecting surface to be slanted to a rotation shaft.
That is, the apparatus for measuring a distance according to the second exemplary embodiment of the present invention is such that a light reflecting surface of the reflector (151) is slanted relative to a rotation shaft of the reflector (151) At this time, when the reflector (151) is a double-sided mirror formed with a light reflecting surface on a front side and a rear side of the mirror, and when the double-sided mirror is rotated, a light is reflected at a different angle from the front side and the rear side of the double-sided mirror, whereby an object can be vertically scanned in two lines as illustrated in
For example, as illustrated in
The base (200) in the second exemplary embodiment of the present invention may be in a fixed stationary state instead of being tilted. Furthermore, when the reflector (151) is a square pillar mirror (152) formed with a light reflecting surface on each of first, second, third and fourth surfaces as shown in
Furthermore, when the reflector (151) is a hexagonal pillar mirror (153) formed with a light reflecting surface on each of first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth surfaces as shown in
Thus, the reflector (151) in the second exemplary embodiment of the present invention may be used with a double-side mirror, or poly-prism mirror.
For reference, reference numeral ‘211’ in
The apparatus according to a third exemplary embodiment of the present invention may include a tilting base (100) mounted with a light transmitter configured to transmit a light and a light receiver (120) including a photo-detector formed with a spot of the light, and a rotating reflector (151) configured to reflect the light emitted from the light transmitter to an object (10) using a light reflecting surface, and to reflect from the light reflecting surface the light reflected or dispersed from the object (10) to the light receiver (120) and to inclined to a rotation shaft at the light reflecting surface.
In the third exemplary embodiment, the light reflecting surface of the reflector (151) is inclined to the rotation shaft of the reflector (151), the base (100) is tilted and the reflector (151) is also rotated. In addition, the reflector (151) may be a doubled-side mirror or a poly-prism mirror.
That is, the third exemplary embodiment may be a combination of the first and second exemplary embodiments. Thus, as illustrated in
As discussed above, a light transmitter according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention may include a light source (110a) and a collimate lens (111) configured to make the light emitted from the light source (110a) to a parallel light, where the light source (110a) may be an LD (Laser Diode) or an LED (Light Emitting Diode).
Referring to
Furthermore the light receiving lens (120a) may concentrate the light reflected or dispersed from the object to a spot, and the photo-detector (120b) may be a photo-detector configured to allow forming a spot concentrated from the light receiving lens (120a). In addition, a wavelength selective transmission filter (not shown) may be interposed between the light receiving lens (120a) and the photo-detector (120b) for preventing an outside light other than the light emitted from the light source (110a) from entering the photo-detector (120b).
A signal relative to a distance to an object measured by the photo-detector (120b) of the apparatus may be processed by an MCU (300), whereby a signal is outputted to determine a distance data to the object or presence or absence of the object.
At this time, the MCU (300) may be mounted in a device separate from the light receiver (120) as in
The apparatus according to the present invention can scan an object of up to ±85° based on an axis (V) perpendicular to an axis (0) of light emitted from the light transmitter (110). That is, as illustrated in
Thus, the apparatus for measuring a distance according to the present invention can perform a more accurate scan by scanning an object to a scope of 170° from both sides of the light transmitter (110), by detecting the presence and absence of an object and by enlarging a scope of measuring a distance to the object.
Referring to
where ‘f’ is a focal length, ‘g’ is a gap between a light source and a lens, Θ is an slant angle of the light source and ‘p’ is a position of spot of light reflected or dispersed from an object that is formed on a photo-detector.
As explained from the foregoing, the present invention is advantageous in that optical elements can be simplified by tilting a base mounted with a light transmitter and a light receiver and by slantly arranging a reflector, whereby a distance to an object can be measured by a single reflector.
The photo-detector according to the present invention may be an image sensor including a plurality of unit pixels arranged in ‘n×m’ matrix to convert an optical signal by the light to an electric signal, whereby optical spots (710) are formed on unit pixels of a plurality of lines of the image sensor, as illustrated in
At this time, although
The previous description of the present invention is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the invention. Various modifications to the invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other variations without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, the invention is not intended to limit the examples described herein, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.
The present invention has an industrial applicability in that optical elements can be simplified by tilting a base mounted with a light transmitter and a light receiver and by slantly arranging a reflector, whereby a distance to an object can be measured by a single reflector, and a 3D space is scanned using a triangulation method to detect presence and absence of an ambient object and to measure a distance to an object, whereby a scope capable of measuring a distance to an object and a scope capable of detecting the presence and absence of an object can be increased for a more accurate scanning of the object.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/KR2011/009996 | 12/22/2011 | WO | 00 | 6/2/2014 |
| Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| WO2013/094791 | 6/27/2013 | WO | A |
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|---|---|---|---|
| 20140347677 A1 | Nov 2014 | US |
