Patent ID: 6671037
Filing Date: 2003-12-30
Classification: G01C,G01S,H01S

Abstract:
An object detecting apparatus comprising:a laser emitter emitting a laser beam; a laser scanner designed to swing the laser beam emitted from said laser emitter in a first direction in a cycle within a given object detection zone, said laser scanner being also designed to move in a second direction substantially perpendicular to the first direction, the laser beam having a cross section which is elongated in the second direction so as to scan an area selected within the object detection zone in one scan cycle; a light-sensitive sensor, when activated, sensitive to a return of the laser beam from a reflective object present in the object detection zone to produce a signal for acquiring given information on the object, said light-sensitive sensor including a plurality of light-sensitive cells arrayed adjacent to each other in the second direction; a selecting circuit working to select ones of the light-sensitive cells to be activated in sequence one in each scan cycle of the laser beam; and an area shifting circuit working to determine a position of the object in the second direction within said selected area using the signal outputted from said light-sensitive sensor and move said laser scanner to shift said selected area in the second direction within the object detection zone based on the position of the object.