Laser triangulation resp. laser distance measurement refers to the optical distance measurement. It is an electronic type of measurement, performed through a runtime measurement and a phase position measurement. Laser triangulation can be used for the corresponding laser or light measurements.
For laser triangulation a laser beam is focussed onto the measured object. A camera integrated in the device and a sensor monitor the light point produced by the laser beam on the measured object. If the distance between the measured object and the sensor changes, also the angle of the light point monitoring will change. The distance of the object to the laser is calculated with the help of the angle functions and of the distance between the object and the sensor. The laser and the photo detector are usually placed together in the same device casing for such measuring equipment.
Laser triangulation is extremely reliable for short distances, measured in the range from a couple of micrometres to 100 metres. Comparatively, runtime processes are mostly used for long distances. Their application range is between 1 m and 1011 m.
Laser triangulation is suited as measurement procedure even for self-reflecting surfaces, like metallic components. A 3D object recording is also possible as part of the laser triangulation method. These features make laser triangulation a preferred measurement procedure in industrial manufacturing processes.