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SF30
Accelerated rangefinder
1. Overview
The SF30 high speed laser rangefinder is designed to detect obstacles or create maps from moving ground-based or arial vehicles. It
works by measuring the time it takes for a very short flash of laser light to travel to a surface and back again. The accuracy of the
measurement is not affected by the colour or texture of the surface, nor the angle of incidence of the laser beam. The SF30 is
virtually immune to background light, wind and noise, making it an ideal sensor to detect unexpected obstacles.
Operating from a regulated 5 V DC supply, the SF30 includes analog and digital interfaces that can be easily connected to a flight
controller or a standard processing platform. Each interface on the SF30 can be configured using a simple software menu that is
accessible through the built-in, micro-B USB port. The interfaces are as follows:
Serial port:
Provides distance readings and other communications to an embedded host controller
Synchronisation:
A logic level signal that provides a time marker for the serial port data
Analog port:
An analog voltage proportional to the distance reading
Alarm:
A logic level signal that warns when the distance measured is below a preset value
USB port:
Connects to a Terminal application on a PC to allow settings to be entered.
Readings can be taken as isolated "snapshots" at a moment determined by the update rate setting, or they can be combined using a
Kalman filter into a smoothed time series. At the full speed of 36633 readings per second, a single flash of laser light is used to take
a measurement. The synchronisation signal marks the instant of the laser flash ensuring that the time of the measurement is known
precisely.
There are two members of the SF30 family: the SF30/B has a maximum measuring range of 50 meters; and the SF30/C has a
maximum measuring range of 100 meters. Both SF30 models have settings to smooth the distance measurements if higher resolution
is required or use the raw results if higher speed is needed.
SF30 Accelerated laser rangefinder - Product Manual - Revision 4
Product manual
Figure 1 :: The main features of the SF30
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© LightWare Optoelectronics (Pty) Ltd, 2015
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