US 11,993,399 B2
Method and apparatus for remote optical measurement of the position of a surface
David M. Konyndyk, Shoreline, WA (US); Mark Douglas Fuller, Snohomish, WA (US); Jerry A. James, Seattle, WA (US); and Timothy P. Huang, Bothell, WA (US)
Assigned to The Boeing Company, Arlington, VA (US)
Filed by The Boeing Company, Chicago, IL (US)
Filed on Jun. 28, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/852,044.
Application 17/852,044 is a division of application No. 16/246,848, filed on Jan. 14, 2019, granted, now 11,396,385.
Prior Publication US 2022/0332438 A1, Oct. 20, 2022
Int. Cl. B64F 5/60 (2017.01); G01B 11/00 (2006.01); B64F 5/10 (2017.01)
CPC B64F 5/60 (2017.01) [G01B 11/002 (2013.01); B64F 5/10 (2017.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A sensor module comprising:
a housing;
a laser device mounted inside the housing and configured to project a curtain of light in a first plane;
a row of photodetectors arranged in sequence along a straight line inside the housing and configured to output respective analog photodetector output signals in response to impingement of light, wherein the straight line of the row of photodetectors lies in a second plane that is generally perpendicular to the first plane;
a lens mounted inside the housing in front of the row of photodetectors, wherein a field of view of the lens intersects the curtain of light; and
a microcontroller that is configured to compute a location of an object centroid relative to the row of photodetectors based on the analog photodetector output signals output by the photodetectors.