With the popularization of concepts such as AGVs and Service Robots, laser scanners, as a core component for navigation and collision avoidance, have also begun to come into view. So what are the working principles and key parameters of laser scanners? Let's take a look into the world of laser scanners!
Working principle
A time-of-flight (TOF) laser scanner continuously emits laser pulses, which are then ablated by a rotating optical mechanism at angular intervals (angular resolution) in various directions within the scanning angle, forming a two-dimensional scanning surface with radial coordinates as the reference. The position information of the object being measured is provided through the distance from the scanner to the object and the corresponding angular data.
Basic parameters
Scan distance
Scanning distance refers to the maximum distance that a laser scanner can measure. This parameter is greatly affected by the environment during actual use. The main influencing factors include: the surface reflectivity of the target object, the shape of the target object, ambient light interference, etc. Generally, manufacturers will specify the measurement distance of the laser scanner when the surface reflectivity of the object is 10% and 90%.
Scanning angle
The scanning angle refers to the angular range that the scanner can cover. Commonly found ranges are: 70° … 360°.
Scan frequency
Scanning frequency refers to the number of times a laser scanner scans per second.
Scan angle resolution
The angle between two adjacent emitted laser beams is the angular resolution.
Scanning accuracy
Scanning accuracy is expressed in two ways: systematic error and statistical error;
■ Systematic error refers to the error between the average value of multiple measurements by a laser scanner and the true value; systematic error cannot be completely eliminated, but its impact can be reduced through pre-calibration;
■ Statistical error refers to the root mean square error of multiple measurements taken by a laser scanner; statistical error can be reduced by taking the average of multiple measurements.
Number of scan layers
Now that you understand the information above, let's take a fresh look at scanner products!
Preview of the Laser Scanner Basics Lecture Series:
■ Surface reflectivity of an object
■ Laser spot size
■ Minimum Detectable Object Size for Laser Scanners
■ Laser Scanner Operating Modes
■ etc.
