US 6,957,493 B2Granted

Automatic tracking apparatus for reflector

AssigneeTopcon Corporation

InventorsKaoru Kumagai, Masahiro Saito, Shinji Yamaguchi

Life of this patent

Estimating the term…

Loading patent…

Abstract

The present invention comprises an illumination portion (11), which is disposed in a surveying machine body (8), for illuminating measurement light toward a reflector (2), a light receiving portion (12), which is disposed in the surveying machine body (8), having an image sensor for receiving a reflection light image (M0) of the measurement light illuminated toward the reflector (2), arithmetic means (37) for calculating a position in an area (Q2) of the image sensor (27) for the reflection light image (M0) from the reflector, and a rotation mechanism for rotating the survey machine body (8) so as to position the reflector (2) on a light receiving optical axis (O2) of the light receiving portion (12) based on the position obtained by the arithmetic means (37), and a light receiving area (Q3) which is a smaller area than the area (Q2) of the image sensor (27) and has the light receiving optical axis (O2) as a center is provided in the area (Q2) of the image sensor (27).

Claims7

Dependent claims

An automatic tracking apparatus for a reflector, comprising:

a surveying machine body;
an illumination portion disposed in said surveying machine body for illuminating a measurement light toward a reflector;
a light receiving portion which is disposed in said surveying machine body and which has an image sensor including a plurality of pixels for receiving a reflection light image of the measurement light illuminated toward said reflector;
an arithmetic device configured to calculate a position of the reflection light image from said reflector in an area of said image sensor;
a rotation mechanism for rotating said surveying machine body so as to position said reflector on a light receiving optical axis of said light receiving portion based on the position obtained by said arithmetic device;
and
a distance measuring portion for measuring a distance from the reflector to the surveying machine body,
wherein the area of the image sensor is provided with a first light receiving area, which is set to be larger than the reflection light image, and a second light receiving area surrounding the first light receiving area, as scanning areas of the reflection light image, and
areas of the first light receiving area and the second light receiving area are changed in accordance with the distance from the reflector to the surveying machine body.

6 more elements

An automatic tracking apparatus for a reflector comprising:

a surveying machine body;
an illumination portion disposed in said surveying machine body for illuminating a measurement Light toward a reflector;
a light receiving portion which is disposed in said surveying machine body and which has an image sensor for receiving a reflection light image of the measurement light illuminated toward said reflector;
an arithmetic device configured to calculate a position of the reflection light image from said reflector in an area of said image sensor;
and
a rotation mechanism for rotating said surveying machine body so as to position said reflector on a light receiving optical axis of said light receiving portion based on the position obtained by said arithmetic device,
wherein the area of the image sensor is provided with a first light receiving area, which is set to be larger than the reflection light image, having said light receiving optical axis of the light receiving portion as a center, and a second light receiving area surrounding the first light receiving area, and
an area of the second light receiving area is set by judging a distance from a size of the reflection light image.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.