Laser receiver

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9866322-B2
Application number	US-201615197638-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 29, 2016
Priority date	Mar 15, 2012
Publication date	Jan 9, 2018
Grant date	Jan 9, 2018

Abstract

The invention relates to a laser system comprising a laser receiver collaborating with a laser emitter. The laser emitter is designed to provide a laser light plane and includes a control unit connected to a communication signal receiver in order to process and compute incoming communication signals from the laser receiver. The laser receiver comprising a communication signal transmitter for communicating with the laser emitter, a linear laser light photo sensor and an acceleration sensor both connected to a circuitry, which is designed to derive a movement of the laser receiver with respect to the detected laser beam of the laser emitter from computing and correlating the signals of the acceleration senor and the laser light photo sensor. The control unit includes an adjustment unit and adjustment is carried out by the adjustment unit in dependence of the processed and computed incoming communication signals of the laser receiver.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A laser system comprising a laser receiver collaborating with a laser emitter, wherein
the laser receiver is designed to detect the laser light beam of a laser emitter with laser light photo sensor providing an electrical output signal when illuminated by a laser beam;
the laser receiver further comprises a circuitry designed to receive and to compute the electrical output signal of said laser light photo sensor and a communication signal transmitter for communicating with the laser emitter using communication signals;
the laser emitter is designed to provide a laser light plane and comprises a control unit connected to a communication signal receiver in order to process and compute the incoming communication signals from the laser receiver;
the laser receiver has an acceleration sensor designed to provide an electrical output signal indicating a movement of the laser receiver;
said circuitry is designed to derive the moving direction of the laser receiver with respect to said laser beam from computing and correlating the output signal of the acceleration sensor and the output signal of said laser light photo sensor;
the laser receiver is designed to communicate the output signals and/or the derived result of the computing and correlation process to the laser emitter which is then processed and computed by the control unit of the laser emitter as incoming communication signals; and
the control unit of the laser emitter is provided with an adjustment unit and adjustment is carried out by the adjustment unit in dependence of the processed and computed incoming communication signals wherein adjustment comprises adjusting at least one of:
a tilt of the reference light plane generated by the emitted laser beam;
an elevation of the reference light plane generated by the emitted laser beam;
focusing and defocusing of the laser beam;
adjusting the intensity of the laser light of the emitted laser beam;
adjusting a rotating head speed of a rotating laser beam; and
emitting a warning signal,

wherein the laser system is provided with a laser emitter formed as a dual wavelength laser and provided with a laser receiver comprising at least 20 different linear laser light photo sensors each of which being sensitive to one of the wavelength emitted by the laser emitter, so that each linear light photo sensor is able to separate a laser plane of respective wavelength emitted by the laser emitter.

2. The laser system according to claim 1 , wherein the laser receiver and the laser emitter are each provided with communication transceivers in order to send and receive communication signals.

3. The laser system according to claim 1 , wherein the laser light photo sensor comprises a plurality of photo sensitive elements arranged in a linear array.

4. The laser system according to claim 1 , wherein the circuitry of the laser receiver is further designed to derive the movement acceleration and/or the movement velocity and/or to estimate the movement end position of the laser receiver with respect to said laser beam from computing and correlating the output signal of the acceleration sensor and the output signal of said laser light photo sensor.

5. The laser system according to claim 4 , wherein the control unit of the laser emitter is designed to correlate the adjustment with movements of the laser receiver and/or with directions of movement of the laser receiver and/or with an estimated relative end position of the movement of the laser receiver.

6. The laser system according to claim 4 , wherein the control unit of the laser emitter is designed to correlate the adjustment with acceleration of the movement of the laser receiver and/or with a velocity of the movement of the laser receiver.

7. The laser system according to claim 4 , wherein the control unit of the laser emitter is designed to correlate the adjustment.

8. The laser system according to claim 1 , wherein the acceleration sensor of the laser receiver is designed as a three-axis acceleration sensor.

9. The laser system according to claim 1 , wherein the laser emitter is
a rotating construction laser designed to provide a laser light plane upon rotating the emitted laser beam; or
a line laser designed to emit a laser beam in form of an expanded fan like laser light plane.

10. The laser system according to claim 1 , wherein the laser emitter is a rotating construction laser and the adjustment unit is provided for adjusting the rotation speed of the rotating laser beam.

11. The laser system according to claim 10 , wherein the circuitry of the laser receiver and/or the control unit of the laser emitter are designed to determine an inclination angle (K) of the laser receiver with respect to a line orthogonal to the laser beam of the laser emitter emitting a level plane, which inclination angle (K) comprising a first component (K 1 ) and a second component (K 2 ).

12. The laser system according to claim 10 , wherein the laser system is provided with electronic means for determining the distance between the laser receiver and the laser emitter, wherein the electronic means are at least one out of the group comprising at least: GPS, laser ranger, wireless communication means like ZigBee or LPR systems (laser positioning radar systems), so that the number of planes required for determining the 3-dimensional position of the laser receiver is reduced by one.

13. The laser system according to claim 10 , wherein the laser system is provided with electronic means for determining the distance between the laser receiver and the laser emitter by using the time of passing method, so that the number of planes required for determining the 3-dimensional position of the laser receiver is reduced by one.

14. The laser system according to claim 13 , wherein the laser system is configured to guide and control a construction machine on a construction site.

15. The laser system according to claim 10 , wherein the control unit of the laser emitter is provided with a search functionality in order to re-orientate the laser beam if an optical contact with the laser receiver has been lost.

16. The laser system according to claim 10 , wherein the laser receiver is attached to and movable with a construction machine, and the system is designed for control of said construction machine.

17. The laser system according to claim 1 , wherein the laser emitter is provided with means for restricting the extent of the laser plane by beam masking or by limiting a pendulum motion of the laser beam between pre-defined end points.

18. The laser system according to claim 17 , wherein the circuitry of the laser receiver and/or the control unit of the laser emitter are designed to determine the horizontal orientation of the laser receiver with respect to the laser emitter using the determined inclination angle (K) having a first component (K 1 ) and a second component (K 2 ), whereby said inclination angle (K) is combined with the gravity referenced inclination detected by the acceleration sensor of the laser receiver.

19. The laser system according to claim 1 , wherein the circuitry of the laser receiver and/or the control unit of the laser emitter are designed to determine the 3-dimensional position of the laser receiver in relation to the laser emitter based on the output signals of the laser light photo sensor and the acceleration sensor provided when illuminated by the laser beam of the laser emitter providing at least two laser light planes having different inclination angles and/or a different offset.

Assignees

• Leica Geosystems Ag

Inventors

• Dumoulin Charles Leopold Elisabeth
• Kehl Anton
• Winistörfer Martin
• Ammer Thomas

Classifications

• H04B10/1143 Primary

  Bidirectional transmission · CPC title