Patent ID: 6327520
Filing Date: 2001-12-04
Classification: G01B

Abstract:
A sensor for determining the planar inclination of a surface comprising:a sensor body having a light emitting end and defining a longitudinal axis;three sensors positioned within said sensor body, each sensor comprising:a laser assembly having a light output for emitting a light beam from the light emitting end in a longitudinal direction substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis onto a surface to be scanned; andan optical detector for receiving scattered light that had been emitted from said laser assembly onto a surface to be scanned;a processor operatively connected to said optical detectors for calculating the planar inclination of the surface based on the light scattered back from the surface to be scanned; anda sine wave generator for generating a sine wave modulation for a laser assembly, wherein each laser assembly has a sine wave modulation that is different from the sine wave modulation of a respective other laser assembly based on stored values within a wave table, wherein the sine waves are a frequency that are prime relative to each other.