Sensor for High Speed, High Precision Measurement of 2-D Positions

A sensor system to measure the 2-D position of an object that intercepts a plane in space is presented in this paper. This sensor system was developed with the aim of measuring the height and lateral position of contact wires supplying power to electric locomotives. The sensor comprises two line-scans focused on the zone to be measured and positioned in such a way that their viewing planes are on the same plane. The report includes a mathematical model of the sensor system, and details the method used for calibrating the sensor system. The procedure used for high speed measurement of object position in space is also described, where measurement acquisition time was less than 0.7 ms. Finally, position measurement results verifying system performance in real time are given.