Difference between laser displacement sensor and laser ranging sensor

What is the difference between a laser displacement sensor and a laser ranging sensor? What is their principle? Customers often come to inquire about related issues. Xiaobian collected the principles and differences between the two to make everyone aware of the differences between laser displacement sensors and laser ranging sensors.

Laser displacement sensor principle

The laser displacement sensor is based on the principle of laser triangulation. The laser displacement sensor can take advantage of the high directivity, high monochromaticity, and high brightness of the laser to achieve non-contact long-distance measurement. The laser displacement sensor is a new measuring instrument made of these advantages of laser.

Laser triangulation measurement principle diagram

The laser transmitter sends visible red laser light to the surface of the object through the lens. The reflected laser light passes through the receiver lens and is accepted by the internal CCD linear camera. Depending on the distance, the CCD linear camera can "see" this at different angles light spot. Based on the known distance between the laser and the camera at this angle, the digital signal processor can calculate the distance between the sensor and the measured object.

Laser ranging sensor principle

The laser rangefinder emits a very thin laser beam to the target when it is working. The photoelectric element receives the laser beam reflected by the target. The timer measures the time from launch to reception of the laser beam and calculates the distance from the observer to the target;

Laser sensors must measure transmission times with extreme accuracy because the speed of light is too fast. To distinguish the time of 3ps, this is an excessive demand for electronic technology, and it is relatively expensive to implement.

Laser ranging sensor measurement principle

Difference between laser displacement sensor and laser ranging sensor:

1: Different measuring principles

The laser displacement sensor uses the principle of laser triangulation; the laser distance sensor uses the flying time of the laser, and calculates the time taken by the laser to reflect on the surface of the measured object to calculate the distance.

Different application fields

Laser displacement sensors are mainly used for measuring geometrical quantities such as displacement, flatness, thickness, vibration, distance, and diameter of an object.

Laser ranging sensors are mainly used in: vehicle flow monitoring, vehicle pedestrian illegal monitoring, laser ranging and obstacle avoidance in emerging areas such as drones, unmanned vans, and autonomous driving.