Design of a laser tracker using 2-DOF stepper controlled platform

Abstract

This paper proposes a laser guided approach to track a moving object using a 2 degree of freedom (DOF) stepper controlled platform. Both hardware and software architectures are discussed. As a proof of the concept, a prototype is designed and fabricated. The indigenously developed low-cost platform can achieve a wide range of tracking distance with precision. Results of trajectory tracking demonstrate effectiveness of the presented approach. The proposed framework finds various applications in navigation, localization and control of autonomous robotic systems. Moreover, the setup can also be used to track the speed of the moving object.