Editorial

4 pages, 175 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

Laser Sensors for Displacement, Distance and Position

by Young Soo Suh

Sensors 2019, 19(8), 1924; https://doi.org/10.3390/s19081924 - 24 Apr 2019

Cited by 24 | Viewed by 5617

Laser sensors can be used to measure distances to objects and their related parameters (displacements, position, surface profiles and velocities). Laser sensors are based on many different optical techniques, such as triangulation, time-of-flight, confocal and interferometric sensors. As laser sensor technology has improved, [...] Read more.

Laser sensors can be used to measure distances to objects and their related parameters (displacements, position, surface profiles and velocities). Laser sensors are based on many different optical techniques, such as triangulation, time-of-flight, confocal and interferometric sensors. As laser sensor technology has improved, the size and cost of sensors have decreased, which has led to the widespread use of laser sensors in many areas. In addition to traditional manufacturing industry applications, laser sensors are increasingly used in robotics, surveillance, autonomous driving and biomedical areas. This paper outlines some of the recent efforts made towards laser sensors for displacement, distance and position. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Laser Sensors for Displacement, Distance and Position)

Research

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20 pages, 7840 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Calibration Method for a Laser Triangulation Scanner Mounted on a Robot Arm for Surface Mapping

by Gerardo Antonio Idrobo-Pizo, José Maurício S. T. Motta and Renato Coral Sampaio

Sensors 2019, 19(8), 1783; https://doi.org/10.3390/s19081783 - 14 Apr 2019

Cited by 26 | Viewed by 6290

Abstract

This paper presents and discusses a method to calibrate a specially built laser triangulation sensor to scan and map the surface of hydraulic turbine blades and to assign 3D coordinates to a dedicated robot to repair, by welding in layers, the damage on [...] Read more.

This paper presents and discusses a method to calibrate a specially built laser triangulation sensor to scan and map the surface of hydraulic turbine blades and to assign 3D coordinates to a dedicated robot to repair, by welding in layers, the damage on blades eroded by cavitation pitting and/or cracks produced by cyclic loading. Due to the large nonlinearities present in a camera and laser diodes, large range distances become difficult to measure with high precision. Aiming to improve the precision and accuracy of the range measurement sensor based on laser triangulation, a calibration model is proposed that involves the parameters of the camera, lens, laser positions, and sensor position on the robot arm related to the robot base to find the best accuracy in the distance range of the application. The developed sensor is composed of a CMOS camera and two laser diodes that project light lines onto the blade surface and needs image processing to find the 3D coordinates. The distances vary from 250 to 650 mm and the accuracy obtained within the distance range is below 1 mm. The calibration process needs a previous camera calibration and special calibration boards to calculate the correct distance between the laser diodes and the camera. The sensor position fixed on the robot arm is found by moving the robot to selected positions. The experimental procedures show the success of the calibration scheme. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Laser Sensors for Displacement, Distance and Position)

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22 pages, 6482 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Development of a 3-PRR Precision Tracking System with Full Closed-Loop Measurement and Control

by Ling-bo Xie, Zhi-cheng Qiu and Xian-min Zhang

Sensors 2019, 19(8), 1756; https://doi.org/10.3390/s19081756 - 12 Apr 2019

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3817

Abstract

A 3-PRR (three links with each link consisting of a prismatic pair and two rotating pairs) parallel platform was designed for application in a vacuum environment. To meet the requirement of high tracking accuracy of the 3-PRR parallel platform, a full closed-loop control [...] Read more.

A 3-PRR (three links with each link consisting of a prismatic pair and two rotating pairs) parallel platform was designed for application in a vacuum environment. To meet the requirement of high tracking accuracy of the 3-PRR parallel platform, a full closed-loop control precision tracking system with laser displacement sensors and linear grating encoders was analysed and implemented. Equally-spaced laser displacement sensors and linear grating encoders were adopted not only for measurement but also for feedback control. A feed-forward control method was applied for comparison before conducting the closed-loop feedback control experiments. The closed-loop control experiments were conducted by adopting the PI (proportion and integration) feedback control and RBF (radial basis function) neural network control algorithms. The experimental results demonstrate that the feed-forward control, PI feedback control, and RBF neural-network control algorithms all have a better control effect than that of semi-closed-loop control, which proves the validity of the designed full closed-loop control system based on the combination of laser displacement sensors and linear grating encoders. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Laser Sensors for Displacement, Distance and Position)

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21 pages, 11779 KiB

Open AccessArticle

High-Index Glass Ball Retroreflectors for Measuring Lateral Positions

by Andrea Egidi, Alessandro Balsamo and Marco Pisani

Sensors 2019, 19(5), 1082; https://doi.org/10.3390/s19051082 - 03 Mar 2019

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3599

Abstract

This paper is concerned with backscattered luminous signals, coming from a particular class of dielectric spheres illuminated by a coherent source. The purpose is to measure the lateral position of the sphere serving as an optical target, to achieve an overall contactless sensor [...] Read more.

This paper is concerned with backscattered luminous signals, coming from a particular class of dielectric spheres illuminated by a coherent source. The purpose is to measure the lateral position of the sphere serving as an optical target, to achieve an overall contactless sensor of lateral position in space. Traditional approaches and theories such as ray-tracing and Mie scattering—as implemented in dedicated software—are applied to investigate their fitness for purpose in this application. No previous literature was found dealing with this specific case. Unfortunately, our observations did not match the theories’ predictions to an acceptable degree, and these approaches proved to be unsatisfactory. The rest of the paper focusses then on the development and comparison of suitable algorithms to compute the image coordinates of a representative point, which was in fact the true motivation of this work. Two original algorithms are proposed and discussed. Their robustness and repeatability are benchmarked under noisy conditions and at different distances from the target, with simulated as well as real images. Both resulted capable of sub-pixel accuracy. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Laser Sensors for Displacement, Distance and Position)

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12 pages, 1617 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Visual Calibration for Multiview Laser Doppler Speed Sensing

by Yunpu Hu, Leo Miyashita, Yoshihiro Watanabe and Masatoshi Ishikawa

Sensors 2019, 19(3), 582; https://doi.org/10.3390/s19030582 - 30 Jan 2019

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3919

Abstract

We present a novel calibration method for a multi-view laser Doppler speed sensing (MLDSS) system. In contrast with the traditional method where only the laser geometry is independently calibrated, the proposed method simultaneously optimizes all the laser parameters and directly associates the parameters [...] Read more.

We present a novel calibration method for a multi-view laser Doppler speed sensing (MLDSS) system. In contrast with the traditional method where only the laser geometry is independently calibrated, the proposed method simultaneously optimizes all the laser parameters and directly associates the parameters with a motion sensing model. By jointly considering the consistency among laser Doppler velocimetry, the laser geometry and a visual marker tracking system, the proposed calibration method further boosts the accuracy of MLDSS. We analyzed the factors influencing the precision, and quantitatively evaluated the efficiency of the proposed method on several data sets. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Laser Sensors for Displacement, Distance and Position)

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14 pages, 3998 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Coil Inductance Model Based Solenoid on–off Valve Spool Displacement Sensing via Laser Calibration

by Hao Tian and Yuren Zhao

Sensors 2018, 18(12), 4492; https://doi.org/10.3390/s18124492 - 18 Dec 2018

Cited by 16 | Viewed by 6148

Abstract

Direct acting solenoid on–off valves are key fluid power components whose efficiency is dependent upon the state of the spool’s axial motion. By sensing the trajectory of the valve spool, more efficient control schemes can be implemented. Therefore, the goal of this study [...] Read more.

Direct acting solenoid on–off valves are key fluid power components whose efficiency is dependent upon the state of the spool’s axial motion. By sensing the trajectory of the valve spool, more efficient control schemes can be implemented. Therefore, the goal of this study is to derive an analytical model for spool displacement sensing based on coil inductance. First, a mathematical model of the coil inductance as a function of air gap width and lumped magnetic reluctance is derived. Second, to solve the inductance from coil current, an optimization to obtain an initial value based on physical constraints is proposed. Furthermore, an experiment using a laser triangulation sensor is designed to correlate the magnetic reluctance to the air gap. Lastly, using the obtained empirical reluctance model to eliminate unknowns from the proposed air gap-inductance model, the model in atmosphere or hydraulic oil environments was tested. Initial results showed that the proposed model is capable of calculating the spool displacement based on the coil current, and the estimation errors compared to the laser measurement are within ±7% in air environment. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Laser Sensors for Displacement, Distance and Position)

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22 pages, 6739 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Extrinsic Calibration of 2D Laser Rangefinders Using an Existing Cuboid-Shaped Corridor as the Reference

by Deyu Yin, Jingbin Liu, Teng Wu, Keke Liu, Juha Hyyppä and Ruizhi Chen

Sensors 2018, 18(12), 4371; https://doi.org/10.3390/s18124371 - 10 Dec 2018

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 3171

Abstract

Laser rangefinders (LRFs) are widely used in autonomous systems for indoor positioning and mobile mapping through the simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) approach. The extrinsic parameters of multiple LRFs need to be determined, and they are one of the key factors impacting system [...] Read more.

Laser rangefinders (LRFs) are widely used in autonomous systems for indoor positioning and mobile mapping through the simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) approach. The extrinsic parameters of multiple LRFs need to be determined, and they are one of the key factors impacting system performance. This study presents an extrinsic calibration method of multiple LRFs that requires neither extra calibration sensors nor special artificial reference landmarks. Instead, it uses a naturally existing cuboid-shaped corridor as the calibration reference, and it hence needs no additional cost. The present method takes advantage of two types of geometric constraints for the calibration, which can be found in a common cuboid-shaped corridor. First, the corresponding point cloud is scanned by the set of LRFs. Second, the lines that are scanned on the corridor surfaces are extracted from the point cloud. Then, the lines within the same surface and the lines within two adjacent surfaces satisfy the coplanarity constraint and the orthogonality constraint, respectively. As such, the calibration problem is converted into a nonlinear optimization problem with the constraints. Simulation experiments and experiments based on real data verified the feasibility and stability of the proposed method. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Laser Sensors for Displacement, Distance and Position)

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13 pages, 757 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Laser Displacement Sensors for Wind Tunnel Model Position Measurements

by Matthew Kuester, Nanyaporn Intaratep and Aurélien Borgoltz

Sensors 2018, 18(12), 4085; https://doi.org/10.3390/s18124085 - 22 Nov 2018

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3747

Abstract

Wind tunnel measurements of two-dimensional wing sections, or airfoils, are the building block of aerodynamic predictions for many aerodynamic applications. In these experiments, the forces and pitching moment on the airfoil are measured as a function of the orientation of the airfoil relative [...] Read more.

Wind tunnel measurements of two-dimensional wing sections, or airfoils, are the building block of aerodynamic predictions for many aerodynamic applications. In these experiments, the forces and pitching moment on the airfoil are measured as a function of the orientation of the airfoil relative to the incoming airflow. Small changes in this angle (called the angle of attack, or

α

) can create significant changes in the forces and moments, so accurately measuring the angle of attack is critical in these experiments. This work describes the implementation of laser displacement sensors in a wind tunnel; the sensors measured the distance between the wind tunnel walls and the airfoil, which was then used to calculate the model position. The uncertainty in the measured laser distances, based on the sensor resolution and temperature drift, is comparable to the uncertainty in traditional linear encoder measurements. Distances from multiple sensors showed small, but statistically significant, amounts of model deflection and rotation that would otherwise not have been detected, allowing for an improved angle of attack measurement. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Laser Sensors for Displacement, Distance and Position)

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15 pages, 6669 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Design and Characterisation of a Fast Steering Mirror Compensation System Based on Double Porro Prisms by a Screw-Ray Tracing Method

by Yu-Hao Chang, Chien-Sheng Liu and Chih-Chun Cheng

Sensors 2018, 18(11), 4046; https://doi.org/10.3390/s18114046 - 20 Nov 2018

Cited by 16 | Viewed by 4201

Abstract

This study proposes a novel FSM compensation system for four degrees of freedom (DOF) laser errors compensation, which has the advantage of shorter optical path length, fewer elements and an easier set-up process, meaning that it can be used at different locations. A [...] Read more.

This study proposes a novel FSM compensation system for four degrees of freedom (DOF) laser errors compensation, which has the advantage of shorter optical path length, fewer elements and an easier set-up process, meaning that it can be used at different locations. A commercial software, Zemax, is used to evaluate the function of the proposed FSM compensation system and the mathematical modelling of the proposed FSM compensation system is established by using a skew-ray tracing method. Finally, the proposed FSM compensation system is then verified experimentally using a laboratory-built prototype and the result shows that the proposed FSM compensation system achieves the ability to compensate the 4 DOF of the laser source. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Laser Sensors for Displacement, Distance and Position)

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16 pages, 5433 KiB

Open AccessArticle

V-RBNN Based Small Drone Detection in Augmented Datasets for 3D LADAR System

by Byeong Hak Kim, Danish Khan, Ciril Bohak, Wonju Choi, Hyun Jeong Lee and Min Young Kim

Sensors 2018, 18(11), 3825; https://doi.org/10.3390/s18113825 - 08 Nov 2018

Cited by 40 | Viewed by 7531

Abstract

A common countermeasure to detect threatening drones is the electro-optical infrared (EO/IR) system. However, its performance is drastically reduced in conditions of complex background, saturation and light reflection. 3D laser sensor LiDAR is used to overcome the problems of 2D sensors like EO/IR, [...] Read more.

A common countermeasure to detect threatening drones is the electro-optical infrared (EO/IR) system. However, its performance is drastically reduced in conditions of complex background, saturation and light reflection. 3D laser sensor LiDAR is used to overcome the problems of 2D sensors like EO/IR, but it is not enough to detect small drones at a very long distance because of low laser energy and resolution. To solve this problem, A 3D LADAR sensor is under development. In this work, we study the detection methodology adequate to the LADAR sensor which can detect small drones at up to 2 km. First, a data augmentation method is proposed to generate a virtual target considering the laser beam and scanning characteristics, and to augment it with the actual LADAR sensor data for various kinds of tests before full hardware system developed. Second, a detection algorithm is proposed to detect drones using voxel-based background subtraction and variable radially bounded nearest neighbor (V-RBNN) method. The results show that 0.2 m L2 distance and 60% expected average overlap (EAO) indexes are satisfied for the required specification to detect 0.3 m size of small drones. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Laser Sensors for Displacement, Distance and Position)

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11 pages, 3334 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Optical Acceleration Measurement Method with Large Non-ambiguity Range and High Resolution via Synthetic Wavelength and Single Wavelength Superheterodyne Interferometry

by Qianbo Lu, Dexin Pan, Jian Bai and Kaiwei Wang

Sensors 2018, 18(10), 3417; https://doi.org/10.3390/s18103417 - 12 Oct 2018

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3108

Abstract

Interferometric optomechanical accelerometers provide superior resolution, but the application is limited due to the non-ambiguity range that is always less than half of the wavelength, which corresponds to the order of mg. This paper proposes a novel acceleration measurement method based on synthetic [...] Read more.

Interferometric optomechanical accelerometers provide superior resolution, but the application is limited due to the non-ambiguity range that is always less than half of the wavelength, which corresponds to the order of mg. This paper proposes a novel acceleration measurement method based on synthetic wavelength and single wavelength superheterodyne interferometry to address this issue. Two acousto-optical modulators and several polarizers are introduced to the two-wavelength interferometry to create four beams with different frequencies and polarization states, and two ultra-narrow bandwidth filters are used to realize the single wavelength measurement simultaneously. This technique offers the possibility to expand the non-ambiguity range without compromising the high resolution. Also, the superheterodyne phase measurement and the corresponding processing algorithm are given to enable real-time measurement. A prototype is built and the preliminary experimental results are compared with the simulation results, showing good agreement. The results prove an estimated acceleration measurement resolution of around 10 μg and a non-ambiguity range of larger than 200 mg, which is more than 100 times that of the single wavelength-based optical accelerometer. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Laser Sensors for Displacement, Distance and Position)

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12 pages, 2502 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Impact of CMOS Pixel and Electronic Circuitry in the Performance of a Hartmann-Shack Wavefront Sensor

by Úrsula Vasconcelos Abecassis, Davies William De Lima Monteiro, Luciana Pedrosa Salles, Carlos Augusto De Moraes Cruz and Pablo Nunes Agra Belmonte

Sensors 2018, 18(10), 3282; https://doi.org/10.3390/s18103282 - 29 Sep 2018

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3180

Abstract

This work presents a numerical simulation of a Hartmann-Shack wavefront sensor (WFS) that assesses the impact of integrated electronic circuitry on the sensor performance, by evaluating a full detection chain encompassing wavefront sampling, photodetection, electronic circuitry and wavefront reconstruction. This platform links dedicated [...] Read more.

This work presents a numerical simulation of a Hartmann-Shack wavefront sensor (WFS) that assesses the impact of integrated electronic circuitry on the sensor performance, by evaluating a full detection chain encompassing wavefront sampling, photodetection, electronic circuitry and wavefront reconstruction. This platform links dedicated C algorithms for WFS to a SPICE circuit simulator for integrated electronics. The complete codes can be easily replaced in order to represent different detection or reconstruction methods, while the circuit simulator employs reliable models of either off-the-shelf circuit components or custom integrated circuit modules. The most relevant role of this platform is to enable the evaluation of the applicability and constraints of the focal plane of a given wavefront sensor prior to the actual fabrication of the detector chip. In this paper, we will present the simulation results for a Hartmann-Shack wavefront sensor with an orthogonal array of quad-cells (QC) integrated along with active-pixel (active-pixel sensor (APS)) circuitry and analog-to-digital converters (ADC) on a “complementary metal oxide semiconductor” (CMOS) process and deploying a modal wavefront reconstructor. This extended simulation capability for wavefront sensors enables the test and verification of different photosensitive and circuitry topologies for position-sensitive detectors combined with the simulation of sampling microlenses and reconstruction algorithms, with the goal of enhancing the accuracy in the prediction of the wavefront-sensor performance before a detector CMOS chip is actually fabricated. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Laser Sensors for Displacement, Distance and Position)

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15 pages, 2472 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Non-Contact Measuring System for In-Situ Surface Characterization Based on Laser Confocal Microscopy

by Shaowei Fu, Fang Cheng, Tegoeh Tjahjowidodo, Yu Zhou and David Butler

Sensors 2018, 18(8), 2657; https://doi.org/10.3390/s18082657 - 13 Aug 2018

Cited by 41 | Viewed by 10580

Abstract

The characterization of surface topographic features on a component is typically quantified using two-dimensional roughness descriptors which are captured by off-line desktop instruments. Ideally any measurement system should be integrated into the manufacturing process to provide in-situ measurement and real-time feedback. A non-contact [...] Read more.

The characterization of surface topographic features on a component is typically quantified using two-dimensional roughness descriptors which are captured by off-line desktop instruments. Ideally any measurement system should be integrated into the manufacturing process to provide in-situ measurement and real-time feedback. A non-contact in-situ surface topography measuring system is proposed in this paper. The proposed system utilizes a laser confocal sensor in both lateral and vertical scanning modes to measure the height of the target features. The roughness parameters are calculated in the developed data processing software according to ISO 4287. To reduce the inherent disadvantage of confocal microscopy, e.g., scattering noise at steep angles and background noise from specular reflection from the optical elements, the developed system has been calibrated and a linear correction factor has been applied in this study. A particular challenge identified for this work is the in-situ measurement of features generated by a robotized surface finishing system. The proposed system was integrated onto a robotic arm with the measuring distance and angle adjusted during measurement based on a CAD model of the component in question. Experimental data confirms the capability of this system to measure the surface roughness within the Ra range of 0.2–7 μm (bandwidth λ_c/λ_s of 300), with a relative accuracy of 5%. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Laser Sensors for Displacement, Distance and Position)

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20 pages, 29521 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Strategy for Determining the Stochastic Distance Characteristics of the 2D Laser Scanner Z + F Profiler 9012A with Special Focus on the Close Range

by Erik Heinz, Markus Mettenleiter, Heiner Kuhlmann and Christoph Holst

Sensors 2018, 18(7), 2253; https://doi.org/10.3390/s18072253 - 12 Jul 2018

Cited by 15 | Viewed by 5426

Abstract

Kinematic laser scanning with moving platforms has been used for the acquisition of 3D point clouds of our environment for many years. A main application of these mobile systems is the acquisition of the infrastructure, e.g., the road surface and buildings. Regarding this, [...] Read more.

Kinematic laser scanning with moving platforms has been used for the acquisition of 3D point clouds of our environment for many years. A main application of these mobile systems is the acquisition of the infrastructure, e.g., the road surface and buildings. Regarding this, the distance between laser scanner and object is often notably shorter than 20 m. In the close range, however, divergent incident laser light can lead to a deterioration of the precision of laser scanner distance measurements. In the light of this, we analyze the distance precision of the 2D laser scanner Z + F Profiler 9012A, purpose-built for kinematic applications, in the range of up to 20 m. In accordance with previous studies, a clear dependency between scan rate, intensity of the backscattered laser light and distance precision is evident, which is used to derive intensity-based stochastic models for the sensor. For this purpose, a new approach for 2D laser scanners is proposed that is based on the static scanning of surfaces with different backscatter. The approach is beneficial because the 2D laser scanner is operated in its normal measurement mode, no sophisticated equipment is required and no model assumptions for the scanned surface are made. The analysis reveals a lower precision in the range below 5 m caused by a decreased intensity. However, the Z + F Profiler 9012A is equipped with a special hardware-based close range optimization partially compensating for this. Our investigations show that this optimization works best at a distance of about 2 m. Although increased noise remains a critical factor in the close range, the derived stochastic models are also valid below 5 m. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Laser Sensors for Displacement, Distance and Position)

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12 pages, 5557 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Laser Self-Mixing Fiber Bragg Grating Sensor for Acoustic Emission Measurement

by Bin Liu, Yuxi Ruan, Yanguang Yu, Jiangtao Xi, Qinghua Guo, Jun Tong and Ginu Rajan

Sensors 2018, 18(6), 1956; https://doi.org/10.3390/s18061956 - 16 Jun 2018

Cited by 26 | Viewed by 4469

Abstract

Fiber Bragg grating (FBG) is considered a good candidate for acoustic emission (AE) measurement. The sensing and measurement in traditional FBG-based AE systems are based on the variation in laser intensity induced by the Bragg wavelength shift. This paper presents a sensing system [...] Read more.

Fiber Bragg grating (FBG) is considered a good candidate for acoustic emission (AE) measurement. The sensing and measurement in traditional FBG-based AE systems are based on the variation in laser intensity induced by the Bragg wavelength shift. This paper presents a sensing system by combining self-mixing interference (SMI) in a laser diode and FBG for AE measurement, aiming to form a new compact and cost-effective sensing system. The measurement model of the overall system was derived. The performance of the presented system was investigated from both aspects of theory and experiment. The results show that the proposed system is able to measure AE events with high resolution and over a wide dynamic frequency range. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Laser Sensors for Displacement, Distance and Position)

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