Low Cost Omnidirectional 2D Distance Sensor for Indoor Floor Mapping Applications

Modern distance sensing methods employ various measurement principles, including triangulation, time-of-flight, confocal, interferometric and frequency comb. Among them, the triangulation method, with a laser light source and an image sensor, is widely used in low-cost applications. We developed an omnidirectional two-dimensional (2D) distance sensor based on the triangulation principle for indoor floor mapping applications. The sensor has a range of 150-1500 mm with a relative resolution better than 4% over the range and 1% at 1 meter distance. It rotationally scans a compact one-dimensional (1D) distance sensor, composed of a near infrared (NIR) laser diode, a folding mirror, an imaging lens, and an image detector. We designed the sensor layout and configuration to satisfy the required measurement range and resolution, selecting easily available components in a special effort to reduce cost. We built a prototype and tested it with seven representative indoor wall specimens (white wallpaper, gray wallpaper, black wallpaper, furniture wood, black leather, brown leather, and white plastic) in a typical indoor illuminated condition, 200 lux, on a floor under ceiling mounted fluorescent lamps. We confirmed the proposed sensor provided reliable distance reading of all the specimens over the required measurement range (150-1500 mm) with a measurement resolution of 4% overall and 1% at 1 meter, regardless of illumination conditions.