Integrated system for quickly and accurately imaging and modeling three-dimensional objects

Claim 1

An apparatus for obtaining position information about surface points of a three dimensional object comprising: a diode pumped, frequency doubled solid state laser for generating a pulsed laser beam, with each pulse having an energy less than 0.2 μJ and wherein the laser beam has an average power of not greater than 1 milliwatt; a scanning mirror system for scanning the laser pulses over the object; and monitoring means for automatically measuring the range to the object based on the time of flight of the laser pulses, said time measurement having a resolution of 20 psec or less, said monitoring means also measuring the angular position of the laser beam and with the range and angular position information being suitable for generating a three dimensional representation of the object.

Claim 2

An apparatus for obtaining position information about surface points of a three dimensional object comprising: a diode pumped, frequency doubled solid state laser for generating a pulsed laser beam, with each pulse having an energy less than 0.2 μJ and wherein the laser beam has an average power of not greater than 1 milliwatt; a scanning mirror system for scanning the laser pulses over the object; and monitoring means for automatically measuring the range to the object based on the time of flight of the laser pulses, said time measurement having a resolution of 20 psec or less, said monitoring means also measuring the angular position of the laser beam and with the range and angular position information being suitable for generating a three dimensional representation of the object.

Claim 4

An apparatus for obtaining position information about surface points of a three dimensional object comprising: a diode pumped, frequency doubled solid state laser for generating a pulsed laser beam, with each pulse having an energy less than 0.2 μJ and wherein the laser beam has an average power of not greater than 1 milliwatt; a scanning mirror system for scanning the laser pulses over the object; and monitoring means for automatically measuring the range to the object based on the time of flight of the laser pulses, said time measurement having a resolution of 30 psec or less, said monitoring means also measuring the angular position of the laser beam and with the range and angular position information being suitable for generating a three dimensional representation of the object and-wherein said monitoring means has a positional accuracy for each point in three dimensional space equal to or better than six millimeters at one standard deviation over a range of up to 100 meters.

Claim 5

An apparatus for obtaining position information about surface points of a three dimensional object comprising: a diode pumped, frequency doubled solid state laser for generating a pulsed laser beam, with each pulse having an energy less than 0.2 μJ and wherein the laser beam has an average power of not greater than 1 milliwatt; a scanning mirror system for scanning the laser pulses over the object; and monitoring means for automatically measuring the range to the object based on the time of flight of the laser pulses, said time measurement having a resolution of 30 psec or less, said monitoring means also measuring the angular position of the laser beam and with the range and angular position information being suitable for generating a three dimensional representation of the object and-wherein said monitoring means has a positional accuracy for each point in three dimensional space equal to or better than six millimeters at one standard deviation over a range of up to 100 meters.

Claim 8

An apparatus for obtaining position information about surface points of a three dimensional object comprising: a diode pumped, frequency doubled solid state laser for generating a pulsed laser beam, with each pulse having an energy less than 0.2 μJ and wherein the laser beam has an average power of not greater than 1 milliwatt; a scanning mirror system for scanning the laser pulses over the object; and monitoring means for automatically measuring the range to the object based on the time of flight of the laser pulses, said time measurement having a resolution of 30 psec or less, said monitoring means also measuring the angular position of the laser beam and with the range and angular position information being suitable for generating a three dimensional representation of the object and where the object is provided with retro reflectors and wherein the range of operation is up to one mile.

Claim 9

An apparatus for obtaining position information about surface points of a three dimensional object comprising: a diode pumped, frequency doubled solid state laser for generating a pulsed laser beam, with each pulse having an energy less than 0.2 μJ and wherein the laser beam has an average power of not greater than 1 milliwatt; a scanning mirror system for scanning the laser pulses over the object; and monitoring means for automatically measuring the range to the object based on the time of flight of the laser pulses, said time measurement having a resolution of 30 psec or less, said monitoring means also measuring the angular position of the laser beam and with the range and angular position information being suitable for generating a three dimensional representation of the object and where the object is provided with retro reflectors and wherein the range of operation is up to one mile.

Claim 10

An apparatus for obtaining position information about surface points of a three dimensional object comprising: a diode pumped, frequency doubled solid state laser for generating a pulsed laser beam, with each pulse having an energy less than 0.2 μJ and wherein the laser beam has an average power of not greater than 1 milliwatt; a scanning mirror system for scanning the laser pulses over the object; and monitoring means for automatically measuring the range to the object based on the time of flight of the laser pulses, said time measurement having a resolution of 30 psec or less, said monitoring means also measuring the angular position of the laser beam and with the range and angular position information being suitable for generating a three dimensional representation of the object, said apparatus further including a processor for generating a point cloud based upon the range and angular position information, the point cloud comprising a plurality of data points that each represents a location of a corresponding point on the surface of the object.

Claim 11

An apparatus for obtaining position information about surface points of a three dimensional object comprising: a diode pumped, frequency doubled solid state laser for generating a pulsed laser beam, with each pulse having an energy less than 0.2 μJ and wherein the laser beam has an average power of not greater than 1 milliwatt; a scanning mirror system for scanning the laser pulses over the object; and monitoring means for automatically measuring the range to the object based on the time of flight of the laser pulses, said time measurement having a resolution of 30 psec or less, said monitoring means also measuring the angular position of the laser beam and with the range and angular position information being suitable for generating a three dimensional representation of the object, said apparatus further including a processor for generating a point cloud based upon the range and angular position information, the point cloud comprising a plurality of data points that each represents a location of a corresponding point on the surface of the object.

Claim 12

An apparatus for obtaining position information about surface points of a three dimensional object comprising: a diode pumped, frequency doubled solid state laser for generating a pulsed laser beam, with each pulse having an energy less than 0.2 μJ and wherein the laser beam has an average power of not greater than 1 milliwatt; a scanning mirror system for scanning the laser pulses over the object; and monitoring means for automatically measuring the range to the object based on the time of flight of the laser pulses, said time measurement having a resolution of 30 psec or less, said monitoring means also measuring the angular position of the laser beam and with the range and angular position information being suitable for generating a three dimensional representation of the object, said apparatus further including a processor means for rendering a model of the object which includes the range and position information generated by the modeling means.

Claim 13

An apparatus for obtaining position information about surface points of a three dimensional object comprising: a diode pumped, frequency doubled solid state laser for generating a pulsed laser beam, with each pulse having an energy less than 0.2 μJ and wherein the laser beam has an average power of not greater than 1 milliwatt; a scanning mirror system for scanning the laser pulses over the object; and monitoring means for automatically measuring the range to the object based on the time of flight of the laser pulses, said time measurement having a resolution of 30 psec or less, said monitoring means also measuring the angular position of the laser beam and with the range and angular position information being suitable for generating a three dimensional representation of the object, said apparatus further including a processor means for rendering a model of the object which includes the range and position information generated by the modeling means.

Claim 14

An apparatus for obtaining position information about surface points of a three dimensional object comprising: a laser for generating a pulsed laser beam; means for scanning the laser pulses over the object; and monitoring means for automatically measuring the range to the object based on the time of flight of pulses, said time measurement having a resolution of 30 psec or less, said monitoring means also measuring the angular position of the laser beam, said monitoring means having a positional accuracy for each point in three dimensional space equal to or better than six millimeters at one standard deviation over a range of up to 100 meters.

Claim 15

An apparatus for obtaining position information about surface points of a three dimensional object comprising: a laser for generating a pulsed laser beam; means for scanning the laser pulses over the object; and monitoring means for automatically measuring the range to the object based on the time of flight of pulses, said time measurement having a resolution of 30 psec or less, said monitoring means also measuring the angular position of the laser beam, said monitoring means having a positional accuracy for each point in three dimensional space equal to or better than six millimeters at one standard deviation over a range of up to 100 meters.