It once looked like this.I've been taking apart various mechanical and electrical gadgets for years. However, this funny looking box is expensive enough that most people wouldn't risk voiding the warranty to look inside. It's is an industrial laser scanner. This model from Sick has become the standard sensor for robotic navigation in the academia setting. It's really cool, and I wanted to see how it works. So, ladies and gentlemen, I present the dissection of a $6,000 industrial laser scanner:
The principle of operation is fairly simple. This is a time-of-flight type LIDAR, which means that it literally uses the speed of light to measure distance. A laser sends out a pulse of light, and a timer is started. The timer stops when the pulse's reflection is detected. Distance is simply T/2C, where T is the timer delay and C is the speed of light. If you rotate the entire optical assembly (or just a mirror in this case), you get very detailed polar range data. Cool.
Back cover removed.
Mirror motor.
Mirror rotation assembly.
Optical encoder assembly.
Mirror and first lens.
Closeup of lens.
Infineon ASIC and Xilinx FPGA.
Sure are lots of PCB's...
Copper shielding.
Back of laser diode module.
Laser module closeup.
Another lens pack.To top of page