A new sensor system for simultaneously detecting the position and incident angle of a light spot

The present paper describes a newly devised sensor, which has the ability to detect the two-dimensional position and the one-dimensional angle of a light spot simultaneously. Ordinary laser-based measurement systems utilize CCD or PSD sensors. These conventional sensors can detect only a light spot's position. When the sensor can detect the incident angle of a light spot as well as the position, the sensor has a wide range of applicability. The sensor consists of two linear array-type sensors whose depth positions are slightly different. We have designed and built a prototype sensor system. We experimentally verified the practicable accuracy of the present sensor system. We also applied the present sensor system to two typical laser-based measurement systems: 2-D position measurement, and 3-D shape measurement for specular objects. Experimental results show that the sensor system was applicable to a laser-based measurement system.