Laser tracker and terrestrial laser scanner range error evaluation by stitching

Published

May 7, 2024

Author(s)

Balasubramanian Muralikrishnan, Braden Czapla, Vincent Lee, Craig Shakarji, Daniel S. Sawyer, Saure Matthias

Abstract

Laser trackers (LTs) are dimensional measurement instruments commonly employed in the manufacture and assembly of large structures. Terrestrial laser scanners (TLSs) are a related class of dimensional measurement instruments more commonly employed in surveying, reverse engineering, and forensics. Commercially available LTs typically have measurement ranges of up to 80 m. The measurement ranges of TLSs vary from about 50 m to several hundred meters with some extending as far as several kilometers. It is difficult, if not impossible, to construct long reference lengths to evaluate the ranging performance of these instruments over that distance. In this context, we explore the use of stitching errors (i.e., stacking errors in adjoining or overlapping short lengths) and stitching lengths (i.e., constructing long reference lengths from multiple positions of a reference instrument by registration) to evaluate these instruments. Through experimental data and a discussion on uncertainty, we show that stitching is indeed a viable option to evaluate the ranging performance of LTs and TLSs.

Citation

Sensors

Volume

24

Issue

10

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.3390/s24102960

Local Download

Keywords

Laser tracker, overlap, range error, registration, stitching errors, stitching lengths, terrestrial laser scanner, uncertainty.

Citation

Muralikrishnan, B. , Czapla, B. , Lee, V. , Shakarji, C. , Sawyer, D. and Matthias, S. (2024), Laser tracker and terrestrial laser scanner range error evaluation by stitching, Sensors, [online], https://doi.org/10.3390/s24102960, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=957568 (Accessed March 18, 2025)