Positioning device and method for detecting a laser beam

1. A positioning device, comprising:

a detector for detecting light of a fan shaped laser beam rotating around a propagation axis with a direction of rotation and having at least two detector elements (A, B) arranged in a known spatial relation to one another for outputting a detection signal when irradiated by the fan shaped laser beam; and

a position determining unit adapted to

obtain a first set of detection signals from the detector elements wherein the first set of detection signals is obtained from detector elements arranged along a first line,

determine at least one first time relation between the detection signals of the first set,

determine a positional relation between the detector and the propagation axis based on the first time relation,

obtain a second set of detection signals from detector elements arranged along a second line, the first and second lines not being parallel with respect to one another,

determine at least one second time relation between the detection signals of the second set,

determine a repetition time interval between two detection signals from the same detector element and to determine an angular velocity (ω) of the fan shaped laser beam based thereon,

determine a first time interval between the detection signals of the first set and a second time interval between the detection signals of the second set,

determine, based on the angular velocity of the fan shaped laser beam and the first and second time intervals of a plurality of detector elements, two angles between the detector elements, and

determine, based on the two detector element angles and the spatial relation of the detector elements, a distance of the detector to the propagation axis.

2. The positioning device according to claim 1 , wherein the first time relation is a first time sequence of the detection signals of the first set and wherein the position determining unit is adapted to determine one of at least two segments of a plane intersecting the propagation axis, in which the detector is located.

3. The positioning device according to claim 2 , wherein the second time relation is a second time sequence of the detection signals of the second set and wherein the position determining unit is adapted to determine one of at least four segments of the plane intersecting the propagation axis, in which the detector is located, based on the first time sequence and the second time sequence.

4. The positioning device according to claim 1 , wherein the detector includes at least three detector elements (A, B, C), a first connecting line between a first one of the detector elements (A) and a second one of the detector elements (C) having a first predetermined length (a) not being parallel to a second connecting line between a third one of the detector elements (C) and the second detector element (B) having a second predetermined length (b); and

wherein the first set of detection signals is obtained from the first and the second detector elements (A, B) and wherein the second set of detection signals is obtained from the second and the third detection elements (B, C).

5. The positioning device according claim 1 , wherein the position determining unit is adapted to obtain the first set of detection signals with the detector having a first orientation and to obtain the second set of detection signals with the detector having a second orientation rotated with respect to the first orientation.

6. The positioning device according to claim 1 , wherein the position determining unit is adapted to

obtain a third and fourth set of detection signals with the propagation axis of the fan shaped laser beam of a laser emitter tilted by an angle with respect to the orientation of the propagation axis for obtaining the first set and second set of detection signals;

determine a third time interval between the detection signals of the third set and a fourth time interval between the detection signals of the fourth set;

determine, based on the angular velocity of the fan shaped laser beam and the third and fourth time intervals of a plurality of detector elements, two other angles between the detector elements;

determine, based on the two other detector element angles and the spatial relation of the detector elements, a second distance of the detector to the tilted propagation axis; and

determine, based on the distance and the second distance, a position of the detector with respect to the laser emitter.

7. The positioning device according to claim 1 , wherein the position determining unit is adapted to

determine a reference angle of one of the detector elements with respect to a reference orientation and

determine a position of the detector relative to the propagation axis and the reference orientation based on the reference angle and the distance of the detector to the propagation axis.

8. The positioning device according to claim 1 , wherein the detector includes at least one level sensor for indicating at least one reference orientation of the detector in space.

9. The positioning device according to claim 1 , further comprising

a laser emitter for emitting the fan shaped laser beam rotating around the propagation axis with the direction of rotation.

10. A positioning method, comprising:

detecting light of a fan shaped laser beam rotating around a propagation axis with a direction of rotation by a detector with at least two detector elements (A, B) arranged in a known spatial relation to one another and outputting a detection signal when irradiated by the fan shaped laser beam;

obtaining a first set of detection signals from the detector elements;

determining at least one first time relation between the detection signals of the first set;

determining a positional relation between the detector and the propagation axis based on the first time relation;

obtaining the first set of detection signals from detector elements arranged along a first line;

obtaining a second set of detection signals from detector elements arranged along a second line, the first and second lines not being parallel with respect to one another;

determining at least one second time relation between the detection signals of the second determining a repetition time interval between two detection signals from the same detector element;

determining an angular velocity (ω) of the fan shaped laser beam based thereon;

determining a first time interval between the detection signals of the first set and a second time interval between the detection signals of the second set;

determining, based on the angular velocity of the fan shaped laser beam and the first and second time intervals of a plurality of detector elements, two angles between the detector elements; and

determining, based on the two detector element angles and the spatial relation of the detector elements, a distance of the detector to the propagation axis.

11. The positioning method according to claim 10 , wherein the first time relation is a first time sequence of the detection signals of the first set, and the method further comprising

determining one of at least two segments of a plane intersecting the propagation axis, in which the detector is located.

12. The positioning method according to claim 11 , wherein the second time relation is a second time sequence of the detection signals of the second set, and the method further comprising

determining one of at least four segments of the plane intersecting the propagation axis, in which the detector is located based on the first time sequence and the second time sequence.

13. The positioning method according to claim 10 , wherein the detector includes at least three detector elements (A, B, C), a first connecting line between a first one of the detector elements (A) and a second one of the detector elements (C) having a first predetermined length (a) not being parallel to a second connecting line between a third one of the detector elements (C) and the second detector element (B) having a second predetermined length (b); and the method further comprising

obtaining the first set of detection signals from the first and the second detector elements (A, B), and

obtaining the second set of detection signals from the second and the third detection elements (B, C).

14. The positioning method according to claim 10 , further comprising

obtaining the first set of detection signals with the detector having a first orientation, and

obtaining the second set of detection signals with the detector having a second orientation rotated with respect to the first orientation.

15. The positioning method according to claim 10 , further comprising

obtaining a third and fourth set of detection signals with the propagation axis of the fan shaped laser beam of a laser emitter tilted by an angle with respect to the orientation of the propagation axis for obtaining the first set and second set of detection signals;

determining a third time interval between the detection signals of the third set and a fourth time interval between the detection signals of the fourth set;

determining, based on the angular velocity of the fan shaped laser beam and the third and fourth time intervals of a plurality of detector elements, two other angles between the detector elements;

determining, based on the two other detector element angles and the spatial relation of the detector elements, a second distance of the detector to the tilted propagation axis; and

determining, based on the distance and the second distance, a position of the detector with respect to the laser emitter.

16. The positioning method according to claim 10 , further comprising

determining a reference angle of one of the detector elements with respect to a reference orientation, and

determining a position of the detector relative to the propagation axis and the reference orientation based on the reference angle and the distance of the detector to the propagation axis.

17. The positioning method according to claim 10 , further comprising

indicating at least one reference orientation of the detector in space using at least one level sensor.