Patent ID: 6876392

Claim:
A rangefinder for obtaining information about the three-dimensional location of an object by projecting light onto the object and receiving part of the light that has been reflected from the object, the rangefinder comprising: a light source for projecting the light on the object; a shutter positioned between the light source and the object which can open and close freely and blocks the light that has been projected from the light source when closed; a camera for receiving the part of the projected light that has been reflected from the object; a distance-measuring sensor for measuring the distance to the object; and a controller for controlling optical output power of the light source and/or exposure conditions of the camera based on range information about the object, wherein the controller uses the output of the distance-measuring sensor as an item of the range information about the object, and wherein the controller selectively controls the open and closed states of the shutter to at least prevent damage to the object when the object is positioned close to the light source.