ILM-1500

Height Measurement/Profile

The ILM units can be used to measure height, when an object such as vehicle passes below the laser the distance changes, enabling the given height or profile to be produced

Presence Detection

The ILM laser can be used to detect the presence of oncoming objects such as trains. When no train is present the laser measures the range to the track surface, for example, assume 10 m to the tracks.

When the train passes through the laser beam path the measured distance by the laser is reduced. The module can detect the presence of the train from the recorded change in range.

At the point when the train passes beyond the laser module beam the laser distance increases back to its original track distance. The module can therefore trigger and alert to create awareness of the presence of the train.

Silo Fill Measurement

The ILM module can be used to measure the distance from the top of the silo tank to the height of the produce within it. The difference between the distances of the laser beam when the tank is empty to when the tank is partially full will enable an analysis of the volume held inside the tank.

Precise Height Control

The ILM module can be used to provide a guide for maintaining unmanned aircraft at an optimum height or as part of an automatic take off and landing system.

If used by a crop spraying aircraft the height is displayed in the cockpit enabling the user to set the offset height for their aircraft. Then the optimum height is programmed into the unit and a tolerance set.

The displayed value provides the current aircraft height as well as an indication of being above or below the ‘optimum' height.

Camera Trigger (Security)

Laser rangefinders are very good at detecting changes in distance and in many of the applications that use them, this is the main function. An example of such an application is the "laser motion detector".

In a surveillance operation, a digital camera records activity at the house of a known drug dealer. This could be over a period of many weeks. The dates and times of interest in the recorded video are when there is movement about the door area of the monitored house/scene. The solution is to aim the laser at the door. The internal program constantly measures the distance to the first object that is "sees", i.e. the target. If the distance measured is between the start of the garden and the door of the house, then we consider a visitor is approaching. A distance less than the start of the garden would be people passing in front of the garden or vehicles on the road. Video motion detection software would not be effective at this point. Also if the door opens, the distance measured by the module would increase as the laser pulses travel into the house. A visitor arriving at the door would decrease the distance measured. This is a simple use of the digital output from the module to directly couple the camera and "mark" the time of an event so it is easier to view at a later date.