Low-cost interactive active monocular range finder

This paper describes a low-cost interactive active monocular range finder and illustrates the effect of introducing interactivity to the range acquisition process. The range finder consists of only one camera and a laser pointer to which three LEDs are attached. When a user scans the laser along surfaces of objects, the camera captures the image of spots (one from the laser and the others from LEDs), and triangulation is carried our using the camera's viewing direction and the optical axis of the laser. The user interaction allows the range finder to acquire range data in which the sampling rate varies across the object depending on the underlying surface structures. Moreover the processes of separating objects from the background and/or finding parts in the object can be achieved using the operator's knowledge of the objects.