Laser distance measuring apparatus
AssigneeMitsubishi Electric Corporation
InventorsYoshitaka Tsuboi, Masahiro Kawai, Shohei Tsukamoto
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
To provide a laser distance measuring apparatus which determines whether the moving body stops autonomously, without depending on the external environment information transmitted from the external apparatuses, and can lower the average power of the laser beam. A laser distance measuring apparatus compares light receiving signals detected at two time points at the same irradiation angle, determines whether the moving body stops, and when it is determined that the moving body stops, makes an average power per unit area and unit time of the laser beam emitted lower than that of when it is determined that the moving body does not stop.
Claims15
A laser distance measuring apparatus mounted on a moving body, comprising:
- a laser beam generator that emits a laser beam;
- a light receiver that receives a reflected light of the laser beam reflected by an object, and outputs a light receiving signal;
- a distance calculator that calculates a distance to the object, based on the emitted laser beam and the light receiving signal;
- a speed determiner that determines whether or not the moving body stops by comparing the light receiving signals detected at two time points at the same irradiation angle;
- and
- an average power controller that, when it is determined that the moving body stops by the speed determiner, makes an average power per unit area and unit time of the laser beam emitted from the laser beam generator lower than that of when it is determined that the moving body does not stop.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.