Patent ID: 8654354

Claim:
A method for optically communicating, from a user to a laser tracker, a command to control operation of the laser tracker with steps comprising: providing a rule of correspondence between each of a plurality of commands and each of a plurality of temporal patterns; providing a target that includes a retroreflector, a target light source that projects a fourth light, and a user-controlled device that controls emission of the fourth light; selecting by the user a first command from among the plurality of commands; projecting a first light from the laser tracker to the retroreflector; reflecting a second light from the retroreflector, the second light being a portion of the first light obtaining first sensed data by sensing a third light, the third light being a portion of the second light; creating by the user, between a first time and a second time, a first temporal pattern, the first temporal pattern including at least a decrease in optical power of the third light followed by an increase in the optical power of the third light the first temporal pattern corresponding to the first command; activating the user-controlled device; obtaining, in response to the activation of the user-controlled device, second sensed data by sensing a portion of the fourth light; determining the first command based at least in part on processing the first sensed data and the second sensed data according to the rule of correspondence; and executing the first command with the laser tracker.