Patent ID: 7133123

Claim:
A laser obstacle avoidance device comprising: an optical head further comprising: a laser source which produces a laser signal, crossed cylindrical lenses through which the laser signal is transmitted; a transceiver including a receiving lens through which a reflected laser signal is received by the transceiver, a receiver and a line filter through which the reflected laser signal is filtered; and scanners which receive the reflected laser signal; and control electronics optically connected to the optical head, wherein the control electronics comprise scanner driver electronics, range processor electronics, power converters, and a display all which produce an x-y display of the terrain scanned by the laser signal wherein the X-axis is driven by a scanner position output and the Y-axis by range data, wherein start and stop pulses from the optical head are shaped by comparators and one-shot pulse generators before being input into a J-K Flip-Flop; wherein an output of the J-K Flip-Flop goes high on receipt of the start pulse and begins to charge a capacitor; and wherein an arrival of the stop pulse sets the J-K Flip-Flop low and an accumulated charge on the capacitor is measured and then dumped in time for a next start pulse.