Communication module for laser rangefinder with integrated positioning system

This paper presents design, implementation and testing of a communication module for a laser range finder with integrated positioning system (GPS). Range finders are widely used in military but also civil applications like topography. The idea was to upgrade a standard laser rangefinder device with position information subsystem and to have radio transmission of distance and position information. An interface module between rangefinder and GPS module, on one side, and data processing unit, on the other side, was developed in order to meet these requirements. The communication as well as GPS modules are placed into the rangefinder case. Software tools were developed for accessing rangefinder data from Windows-based personal computers.