Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are highly susceptible to collisions with other objects during flight, and once a collision occurs, they are generally rendered inoperable. Therefore, scientists need to develop a collision avoidance system for UAVs, which precisely utilizes laser distance meter. This article introduces the application of laser distance meter in UAV collision avoidance systems.
Laser ranging technology has been widely used in various fields such as national defense, military, production, and transportation. However, existing commercial laser distance meter cannot meet the usage requirements of UAVs in terms of volume, weight, power consumption, repetition frequency, etc. The mechanical small lasers required for UAVs need to measure relatively short distances, while also demanding small volume, light weight, and low power consumption. Traditional semiconductor laser distance meters process laser signals through discrete components to measure the round-trip time of light pulses, which complicates the circuit, makes debugging difficult, and results in relatively poor accuracy and reliability, as well as larger volume and weight.
This article adopts programmable logic devices (PLDs) widely used in the field of electronic engineering for transmitting and receiving signal processing, which significantly reduces the weight and power consumption of the entire machine while greatly improving system reliability. At the same time, since programmable logic devices can be debugged in system programming, after product upgrades, we can observe the measured values of tree canopies by scientists, enabling the reflection accuracy to reach 25–35 mm, and the maximum power consumption is significantly reduced.
Based on high-power narrow-pulse semiconductor lasers, high-sensitivity photodetectors, complex programmable logic devices, and inductive boost high-voltage bias power supplies, a small airborne laser distance meter suitable for UAV collision avoidance systems has been developed. The entire machine weighs no more than 100 grams, with a measurement range of 100 meters and a resolution of 1 meter, meeting the application requirements of UAV collision avoidance systems.
