Laser Range Finder Modules

Silent Sentinel offer a range of laser range finder modules which can offer measurements up to 22km, get in touch with the team to find out more.

Laser rangefinders can be used to monitor or measure distances or object lengths. They can also provide positional locations over long distances, e.g. several kilometers, without physically touching the observed object. The laser range finders are regularly used in geodesy, sports, hunting or military.

A laser rangefinder, also known as a laser telemeter, is a rangefinder that uses a laser beam to determine the distance to an object. The most common form of laser rangefinder operates on the time of flight principle by sending a laser pulse in a narrow beam towards the object and measuring the time taken by the pulse to be reflected off the target and returned to the sender.

Due to the high speed of light, this technique is not appropriate for high precision sub-millimeter measurements, where triangulation and other techniques are often used instead. Laser rangefinders are sometimes classified as type of handheld scannerless lidar.

The pulse may be coded to reduce the chance that the rangefinder can be jammed. It is possible to use Doppler effect techniques to judge whether the object is moving towards or away from the rangefinder, and if so, how fast.

The precision of an instrument is correlated with the rise time,[1] divergence, and power of its laser pulse, as well as the quality of its optics and onboard digital signal processing. Environmental factors can significantly reduce range and accuracy:

• Humidity, snow, dust, or other airborne particulates will diffuse the signal.
• Higher temperature and higher pressure (lower elevation) slightly decrease the speed of light through air.
• Smaller and less reflective targets return less information.

In good conditions, skilled operators using precision laser rangefinders can range a target to within a meter at distances on the order of three kilometers.