Measuring apparatus for geometric 3D scanning of surroundings with a multiplicity of transmission channels and semiconductor photomultiplier sensors

A measuring apparatus for the three-dimensional geometric acquisition of surroundings, the measuring apparatus comprising:

• a base;
• a transceiver platform which is rotatable about a rotation axis relative to the base, the transceiver platform being configured for rotating a beam exit region and a beam entrance region about the rotation axis;
• a goniometer for acquiring angle data with respect to the angular orientation of the transceiver platform about the rotation axis;
• a transmitting unit having a multiplicity of (n) transmission channels for emitting pulsed distance measurement beams via the beam exit region, wherein in each case a different elevation (α) with respect to a reference plane orthogonal to the rotation axis is scannable with each of the transmission channels;
• a receiving unit configured for acquiring pulsed distance measurement beams returning via the beam entrance region and for generating distance measurement data with respect to the multiplicity of transmission channels;
• and
• a computing unit configured for deriving a three-dimensional point cloud on the basis of the angle data, the distance measurement data, and arrangement information indicative of the arrangement of the multiplicity of transmission channels,
• wherein the receiving unit comprises a sensor arrangement of (m) semiconductor photomultiplier sensors, wherein each of the semiconductor photomultiplier sensors comprises in each case a multiplicity of microcells which in each case are based on an internal gain mechanism and operate in the Geiger mode, and the output values of the microcells of a respective semiconductor photomultiplier sensor in each case generate a common output signal,
• wherein (m) is less than (n), and
• wherein the transmitting unit and the receiving unit are configured such that at least two of the transmission channels are assigned to a common semiconductor photomultiplier sensor of the sensor arrangement, which sensor is configured for generating the distance measurement data with respect to the at least two transmission channels.