Three-line high-power three-dimensional sensor

This paper describes a sensor that employs three laser beams in order to measure the 3-D distress characteristics of road surfaces at highway speed. The 3-D feature extraction is done by means of a combination of two measuring techniques: triangulation and defocusing. In order to generate a pattern of transverse profiles spaced by 11cm at a speed of about 20m/s, three transverse profiles are acquired in a single flame, at a frame rate of 60Hz. This approach led to the three laser beam solution and the use of a standard CCD camera as detector. Subject analysis emphasized as a "must have": a wide field of view, low blurring, a more even distribution of the laser line intensity, a low power consumption along with simplicity and low cost. The use of a modified reversed prism provided a more uniform distribution, even with a single laser for each projected line. High power laser diodes were needed in order to operate at 1/10000s shutter speed. An accurate sensor calibration provides 256 points oft (range), x (position) and I(intensity) for each profile. Calibration data as well as range and intensity of measured profiles are provided. Sensor's accuracy is also observed.