<title>Examining laser triangulation system performance using a software simulation</title>

The invention of the laser diode, the microcomputer and the CCD camera have made possible the new technology of triangulation measurement systems. Current applications range from scanning the insides of old pipes, to a vision tool for the blind. As such, it is important that techniques be developed to minimize the error in laser triangulation measurement systems. Due to the nonlinear nature of the problem and the fact that error is dependent on an ever changing and vast number of subjects, a computer simulation was written to examine the trade-off between occlusion and data quality. A computer simulation allows for a large amount of flexibility. The software gives the user the ability to calculate the error for a given triangulation configuration without having to build and test the actual hardware. This paper describes and demonstrates the use of the simulator. Limitless laser triangulation systems can be modeled and most subjects represented in CAD files can be used in the computer simulation.