Laser sensor capable of measuring distance, velocity, and acceleration
US5396510A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 30, 1993 |
| Grant date | Mar 7, 1995 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 30, 2013 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01S17/50
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A light based distance, velocity and acceleration sensor which uses phase difference to determine the desired measurement. A laser signal is modulated by an oscillator signal and reflected off an object to a signal receiver. The reflected laser signal and the oscillator signal then pass through a dual path conditioning circuit, where the path lengths and circuit elements of the two paths are identical to cancel the effects of propagation delays in an output signal. The conditioned signals are passed through a phase comparator, to produce a signal indicative of the phase difference between the oscillator signal and the reflected laser signal. The phase difference is directly proportional to the distance between the sensor and the object.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.