Granted Patent B2

US 12,736,343 · App. 18/444,389 · Granted Sep 15, 2026

Inventors: Christian Graesser (Danderyd, SE); Jacques Rondeau (Carquefou, FR)

Assignee: Trimble Inc.

G01C15/004G01C15/006

Abstract

Claims (53)

1 . A target for use in surveying applications, the target comprising:

a plurality of light sources arranged around a longitudinal axis (A) of a base element of said target and configured to emit light radially; and

a control unit configured to:

receive, from a surveying instrument aimed towards the target, an input indicative of a distance (d) between the target and the surveying instrument, the input comprising a position of the surveying instrument;

determine, from a target position input received from an external source, a position of the target;

determine the distance between the surveying instrument and the target based on the received position of the surveying instrument and the determined position of the target; and

control an intensity of the light emitted by the plurality of light sources based on the determined distance.

2 . The target of claim 1 , further comprising a global navigation satellite system, GNSS, receiver; wherein

said target position input received from an external source comprises a target position input received via said GNSS receiver.

3 . The target of claim 1 , further comprising input means, wherein said target position input received from an external source comprises a target position input received via said input means.

4 . The target of claim 1 , wherein said input indicative of a distance between the target and the surveying instrument comprises a measured distance between the target and the surveying instrument.

5 . A target for use in surveying applications, the target comprising:

a plurality of light sources arranged around a longitudinal axis (A) of a base element of said target and configured to emit light radially; and

a control unit configured to:

receive, from a surveying instrument aimed towards the target, an input indicative of a distance (d) between the target and the surveying instrument, wherein said input indicative of a distance between the target and the surveying instrument comprises a measured optical signal strength of light emitted by said plurality of light sources and detected by a light detector of said surveying instrument; and

control an intensity of the light emitted by the plurality of light sources based on a difference between the measured optical signal strength and an optical signal strength model.

6 . A target for use in surveying applications, the target comprising:

a plurality of light sources arranged around a longitudinal axis (A) of a base element of said target and configured to emit light radially; and

a control unit configured to:

receive, from a surveying instrument aimed towards the target, an input indicative of a distance (d) between the target and the surveying instrument, wherein said input indicative of a distance between the target and the surveying instrument comprises a wireless communication between the surveying instrument and the target; and

control an intensity of the light emitted by the plurality of light sources based on a signal strength of the wireless communication.

7 . A target for use in surveying applications, the target comprising:

a plurality of light sources arranged around a longitudinal axis (A) of a base element of said target and configured to emit light radially; and

a control unit configured to:

receive, from a surveying instrument aimed towards the target, an input indicative of a distance (d) between the target and the surveying instrument;

control an intensity of the light emitted by the plurality of light sources based on the input indicative of the distance between the target and the surveying instrument;

receive, from the surveying instrument, an indication that the surveying instrument is not aimed towards the target; and

upon reception of said indication, control the intensity of the light emitted by the plurality of light sources to be at a maximum level.

8 . A surveying system comprising the target of claim 1 , and a surveying instrument comprising:

a light detector configured to detect light emitted by the plurality of light sources of the target;

an instrument sensor unit; and

an instrument control unit configured to:

determine the input indicative of the distance between the target and the surveying instrument, based on measurements received from the instrument sensor unit; and

transmit the input indicative of the distance between the target and the surveying instrument to the target.

9 . The surveying system of claim 8 , wherein:

said instrument sensor unit comprises a position sensor; and

the instrument control unit is configured to:

determine a position of the surveying instrument, based on measurements of the position sensor; and

transmit the determined position to the target.

10 . The surveying system of any of claim 8 , wherein:

said instrument sensor unit comprises an electronic distance measurement, EDM, device; and

said instrument control unit is further configured to transmit a distance between the target and the surveying instrument, measured using said EDM device, to the target.

11 . The surveying system of claim 8 , wherein said instrument control unit is further configured to:

determine a measured optical signal strength of light emitted by the plurality of light sources and detected by the light detector; and

transmit the measured optical signal strength to the target.

12 . The surveying system of claim 8 , wherein said instrument control unit is further configured to:

determine, based on an input from the light detector, whether the surveying instrument is aimed towards the target; and

upon a determination that the surveying instrument is not aimed towards the target, transmit, to the target, an indication that the surveying instrument is not aimed towards the target.

13 . A method for operating a target for use in surveying applications, the target comprising a plurality of light sources arranged around a longitudinal axis of a base element of said target and configured to emit light radially, the method comprising:

receiving, from a surveying instrument aimed towards the target, an input indicative of a distance between the target and the surveying instrument;

controlling an intensity of the light emitted by the plurality of light sources based on the input indicative of the distance between the target and the surveying instrument;

receiving, from the surveying instrument, an indication that the surveying instrument is not aimed towards the target; and

upon reception of said indication, controlling the intensity of the light emitted by the plurality of light sources to be at a maximum level.

Assignments (2)

Priority Claims (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (32)