U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

PUBLICATIONS

Common-Path Method for Laser Tracker Ranging Calibration

Published

Author(s)

Christopher J. Blackburn, Daniel S. Sawyer, Craig M. Shakarji

Abstract

We present an alternative to the back-to-back method of testing laser tracker ranging systems. Our approach uses a common air path for both the measurement and reference laser beams. This technique allows for more accurate determination of the reference length by greatly reducing the dead-path for the reference length. Accuracy is also improved because of the use of a single optic: this eliminates error sources due to offsets between the front- and rear-facing optics used in the back-to-back method. Furthermore, the technique simplifies the execution of the ranging test by allowing for a novel alignment procedure that is also presented.
Citation
Journal of the CMSC
Pub Type
Journals
Dimensional metrology

Citation

Blackburn, C. , Sawyer, D. and Shakarji, C. (2014), Common-Path Method for Laser Tracker Ranging Calibration, Journal of the CMSC (Accessed January 29, 2023)

Created March 31, 2014, Updated February 19, 2017