Laser rangefinder
A laser rangefinder is a device which uses a laser beam to determine the distance to an object. The most common form of laser rangefinder operates on the time of flight principle by sending a laser pulse in a narrow beam towards the object and measuring the time taken by the pulse to be reflected off the target and returned to the sender. Due to the high speed of light, this technique is not appropriate for high precision sub-millimeter measurements, where triangulation and other techniques are often used.
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Pulse
The pulse may be coded to reduce the chance that the rangefinder can be jammed. It is possible to use Doppler effect techniques to judge whether the object is moving towards or away from the rangefinder, and if so how fast.
Precision
The precision of the instrument is determined by the rise or fall time of the laser pulse and the speed of the receiver. One that uses very sharp laser pulses and has a very fast detector can range an object to within a few millimeters.
Range
Despite the beam being narrow, it will eventually spread over long distances due to the divergence of the laser beam, as well as due to scintillation and beam wander effects, caused by the presence of air bubbles in the air acting as lenses ranging in size from microscopic to roughly half the height of the laser beam's path above the earth.
These atmospheric distortions coupled with the divergence of the laser itself and with transverse winds that serve to push the atmospheric heat bubbles laterally may combine to make it difficult to get an accurate reading of the distance of an object, say, beneath some trees or behind bushes, or even over long distances of more than 1 km in open and unobscured desert terrain.
Some of the laser light might reflect off leaves or branches which are closer than the object, giving an early return and a reading which is too low. Alternatively, over distances longer than 1200 ft (365 m), the target, if in proximity to the earth, may simply vanish into a mirage, caused by temperature gradients in the air in proximity to the heated surface bending the laser light. All these effects have to be taken into account.
Calculation
The distance between point A and B is given by
where c is the speed of light in the atmosphere and t is the amount of time for the round-trip between A and B.
where 
is the delay which made by the light traveling and 
is the angular frequency of optical modulation.
Then substitute the values in the equation D=ct/2,D=1/2 ct=1/2 c·φ/ω=c/(4πf) (Nπ+Δφ)=c/4f (N+ΔN)=U(N+)
in this equation, U stands for the unit length.
Δφ stands for the delay part which does not fulfill π.
ΔN stands the decimal value.
Discrimination
Some instruments are able to determine multiple returns, as above. These instruments use waveform-resolving detectors, which means they detect the amount of light returned over a certain time, usually very short. The waveform from a laser pulse that hits a tree and then the ground would have two peaks. The first peak would be the distance to the tree, and the second would be the distance to the ground.
Using wavefront sensing, it is possible to determine both the closest and the farthest object at a given point. This makes it possible for aircraft-mounted instruments to see "through" dense canopies and other semi-reflective surface such as the ocean, leading to many applications for airborne instruments such as:
- Creating "bare earth" topographic maps - removing all trees
- Creating vegetation thickness maps
- Bathymetry (measuring topography under the ocean)
- Forest fire hazard
- Overwash threat in barrier islands
Technologies
Time of flight - this measures the time taken for a light pulse to travel to the target and back. With the speed of light known, and an accurate measurement of the time taken, the distance can be calculated. Many pulses are fired sequentially and the average response is most commonly used. This technique requires very accurate sub-nanosecond timing circuitry.
Multiple frequency phase-shift - this measures the phase shift of multiple frequencies on reflection then solves some simultaneous equations to give a final measure.
Interferometry - the most accurate and most useful technique for measuring changes in distance rather than absolute distances.
Applications
Military
Rangefinders provide an exact distance to targets located beyond the distance of point-blank shooting to snipers and artillery. They can also be used for military reconciliation and engineering.
Handheld military rangefinders operate at ranges of 2 km up to 25 km and are combined with binoculars or monoculars. When the rangefinder is equipped with a digital magnetic compass (DMC) and inclinometer it is capable of providing magnetic azimuth, inclination, and height (length) of targets. Some rangefinders can also measure a target's speed in relation to the observer. Some rangefinders have cable or wireless interfaces to enable them to transfer their measurement(s) data to other equipment like fire control computers. Some models also offer the possibility to use add-on night vision modules. Most handheld rangefinders use standard or rechargeable batteries.
The more powerful models of rangefinders measure distance up to 25 km and are normally installed either on a tripod or directly on a vehicle or gun platform. In the latter case the rangefinder module is integrated with on-board thermal, night vision and daytime observation equipment. The most advanced military rangefinders can be integrated with computers.
To make laser rangefinders and laser-guided weapons less useful against military targets, various military arms may have developed laser-absorbing paint for their vehicles. Regardless, some objects don't reflect laser light very well and using a laser rangefinder on them is difficult.
3-D Modelling
Laser rangefinders are used extensively in 3-D object recognition, 3-D object modelling, and a wide variety of computer vision-related fields. This technology constitutes the heart of the so-called time-of-flight 3D scanners. In contrast to the military instruments described above, laser rangefinders offer high-precision scanning abilities, with either single-face or 360-degree scanning modes.
A number of algorithms have been developed to merge the range data retrieved from multiple angles of a single object to produce complete 3-D models with as little error as possible. One of the advantages that laser rangefinders offer over other methods of computer vision is that the computer does not need to correlate features from two images to determine depth information as in stereoscopic methods.
Laser rangefinders used in computer vision applications often have depth resolutions of tenths of millimeters or less. This can be achieved by using triangulation or refraction measurement techniques as opposed to the time of flight techniques used in LIDAR.
Forestry
Special laser rangefinders are used in forestry. These devices have anti-leaf filters and work with reflectors. Laser beam reflects only from this reflector and so exact distance measurement is guaranteed. Laser rangefinders with anti-leaf filter are used for example for forest inventories.
Sports
Laser rangefinders may be effectively used in various sports that require precision distance measurement, such as golf, hunting, and archery. Some of the more popular manufacturers are: Opti-logic Corporation, Bushnell, LaserTechnology, Leica, Newcon Optik, Nikon, and Swarovski Optik.
Industry production processes
An important application is the use of laser Range finder technology during the automation of stock management systems and production processes in steel industry.
Laser measuring tools
Laser rangefinders are also used in several industries like construction, renovation and real estate as an alternative to a tape measure. To measure a large object like a room with a tape measure, one would need two people and a straight run with no obstructions to stretch the tape. With a laser measuring tool, the job can be completed by one operator with just a line of sight. Laser measuring tools typically include the ability to produce some simple calculations, such as the area or volume of a room, as well as switch between imperial and metric units.
Safety
Laser rangefinders for consumers are laser class 1 devices and therefore are considered eyesafe. Some laser rangefinders for military use exceed the laser class 1 energy levels.