Position determination using synthetic wave laser ranging

摘要

Systems and methods for determining the position of an object in a coordinate system. An exemplary system includes three or more laser ranging sensors each configured to direct a sensor beam of continuous-wave light toward a target. Light reflecting off the target interferes with the sensor beam creating an interference beam. The interference beam is combined with local oscillator beams in each laser ranging sensor to create a synthetic wave beam. Each of the laser ranging sensors also includes an array of photodetectors that sense the synthetic wave beam , and is able to measure a distance to the target based on output from the array of photodetectors. The system further includes a controller that receives a distance measurement from each of the laser ranging sensors, and calculates a position of the target in the coordinate system based on the distance measurements.