Laser Range finding modules?

[wannaBinventor]

I'm wondering if there are any laser range finding modules out there that come as a complete module and spit out the range on an analog basis or in a way that can be digitally communicated to a microcontroller.

I know there are plenty of range finder modules out there for hunters and sport shooters and what not, but I'd like something that could just be hooked up and start spitting out data based on a spot being lased.

I'm somewhat familiar with how it works -- send out a modulated laser pulse, wait for it to come back, and measure the time to receive the bounce back of the modulated pulse. I just know that actually implementing it with a laser receiver (do they make readily available phototransistors sensitive only to laser light?) would be very difficult from a hobbyist perspective given the speed of most uCs and the speed of light.

 

[dknguyen]

acroname sells the only "affordable" ones I have seen. they arent like >30m range but are line scanners. All others are at least $10k+ like the ones from acuity which are insanely accurate over hundreds of meters and can hve $5k rotating mirrors to become an imager.
https://www.acroname.com/robotics/parts/c_Sensors.html

The only other alternative are these:
**broken link removed**

You can find them in online stores. Not cheap, but cheaper than the rest with longer range but not useful for short range (~1m accuracy with min range of ~4m)

Basically out of our league for the most part.

 

[wannaBinventor]

Thanks for the reply. That is in fact way out of my league.

I see range finders for about $150 bucks on ebay, so I was thinking there had to be something that worked to a couple hundred meters that us hobbyists could use. I guess not. I suppose it's quite possible to hack into the datalines of an existing unit, but who wants to spend $150 bucks and quite possibly tear it up within ten minutes?

 

[dknguyen]

Yeah. Myself, I want a laser altimeter and there are no alterenatives...except for radar lol

 

[LTX71CM]

I've seen a few articles where people have hacked up the LIDAR in this vacuum neato robotics | Home of the Neato Robotics XV-11 Vacuum Cleaner