Laser Rangefinder

ALT="Persistent Vision Pty Ltd"

Laser Rangefinder Development

During 1992-94, John was with the Photonics Research Laboratory at the University of Melbourne. With GIRD funding and with BHP as the industrial partner, he helped develop a prototype laser rangefinder for use in the steel industry. Its main application was intended to be measuring the web-thickness of steel sections while they are still hot from the rolling process.

Technical Summary

Rangefinder Photo

Technical details are confidential to the project partners. See the reference below for a summary description.

Photograph courtesy of University of Melbourne

John's Contributions

Proposing the modulation principle used in the rangefinder.
Detailed analysis of sources of error and their statistics.
Construction of most of the bench prototype.
Proposing a method for ambiguity resolution and calibration.
Construction of moving and adjustable test-targets.

Skills

Expertise in modulation theory
Design of high-speed electronic circuits
Statistical analysis of errors
Software design
Mechanical design

Reference

No details of the system have been published, for commercial reasons. A brief general description appears in R&D News from BHP, Vol 35, page 7, September 1994.

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