Patent ID: 8717582
Filing Date: 2014-05-06
Classification: B65G,G01S,G01V

Abstract:
1. A sensor apparatus for detecting a load on a carrier device, comprising: a three dimensional camera including at least one transmitter and at least one receiver, and an electronic unit for controlling the transmitter and receiver, the electronic unit configured to: modulate an oscillation onto an electromagnetic radiation emitted from the transmitter, wherein the radiation and the oscillation are transmitted across a first region and across a second region, wherein the second region is separate from the first region, enable the receiver to detect the radiation and the oscillation reflected from a first object present in the first region and from a second object present in the second region, generate a first signal corresponding to a phase shift of the oscillation detected in the reflected radiation from the first region with respect to the oscillation modulated onto the radiation in the transmitter; generate a second signal corresponding to a phase shift of the oscillation detected in the reflected radiation from the second region with respect to the oscillation modulated onto the radiation in the transmitter, wherein the first region corresponds to the carrier device and the second region corresponds to the load; and compare the first and the second signals to evaluate the geometrical position of the carrier in the first region with respect to the geometrical position of the load in the second region.