Laser Rangefinder Questions

[latshawforliberty]

I am looking for a component that is capable of finding the distance from the point of origin to a precise location. I think a laser rangefinder might work for my project.

First off, are there currently laser rangefinding components available off the market for less than $100?

Or, will I be forced to build my own?

Thanks,
-James

 

[shumifan50]

google is amazing:
https://www.google.co.uk/search?cli...f-8&gl=uk&gws_rd=cr&ei=e0KOU5vQOMue7Ab314GoCA

 

[latshawforliberty]

Really? I had no idea google existed!

All sarcasm aside, I'm looking for the actual LRF component. All of those listed on your link are products, and I'd rather not spend $100-200 for a range finder just to hack it. Plus, most of those have a minimum range of 10-30m. For my application, I'll be interested in distances less than 10m. Thus, most of those won't work for me sadly.

Do you (or does anyone) know of a website where I can go that sells the actual LRF component? Or maybe it's known as a different name?

Thanks,
-James

 

[latshawforliberty]

I am kind of looking for something like this, but cheaper.
http://www.iknowsystems.com/navranger.html

Ideally, I'd like it to be less than $100, take more than 50 readings/sec, and have a range around 0-10 meters.

 

[shumifan50]

Depending on what material the target is you could look at using ultrasonic - the units are cheap, but the one in the link is 0-4m.
http://www.bitsbox.co.uk/index.php?...ucts_id=2109&zenid=pfltb63jlu9tarlpvatl5cduo0

 

[latshawforliberty]

I am trying to make something similar to LiDar. I'd like to hook the LRF onto a mount that will point the LRF in various direction. I'll save these points and input them into a software to render a 3d image of the mount's environment (like matlab's 3d plotter). The idea is to generate a rough representation of the component's surroundings. I'm a bit afraid to use ultrasonic because it might not be able to distinguish various surfaces. That's why I kind of want to stick to lasers. However, do you think that an ultrasonic device would suit my needs?

Thanks.

 

[shumifan50]

I am no expert on these things, but as far as I am aware laser, infra red and ultrasonic bounce badly off soft surfaces. What this means is that walls, wooden furniture etc will get accurate readings at longer range. People on the other hand are very bad, as is grass and curtains. My exposure has been to infra-red and that is very sensitive to the surface it is bounced off. I am just embarking on a project that uses the ultrasonic sensor I posted the link to, but have no results yet. However, other people have indicated that it is bad on sensing distance on grass - I will be using it as a height sensor on a quad-copter. They get the 4m range on concrete but only about 2m on grass.
Another option is infrared which can quite easily be focused with lenses or a peep hole.

 

[latshawforliberty]

Thanks for the input.
Do you think it will extend the range and help the ultrasonic sensor pick up smaller objects if I put a parabolic cone around it?

 

[shumifan50]

The sensor I gave the link to already has a curved emitter.

 

[latshawforliberty]

Truth.

Thanks for your help.