Laser Range Sensor

This simulates a laser range finder. While I'm not aware of any educational robotics kit that contains such a sensor, it is possible with a little hands-on electronics work to interface a laser range finder module to many robotics systems (eg. EV3).

Unlike an ultrasonic sensor, the laser range finder emits a narrow beam, allowing greater precision.

Working Principles (Simulator)

It works by sending out a single rays and checking if it hits any objects. Unlike the ultrasonic sensor, the laser range sensor does not consider the angle of incident.

Coding-wise, use the Laser Range sensor just like you would an Ultrasonic Sensor - it's a just a specially customized Ultrasonic.

Differences from a real sensor

• The simulated sensor uses a ray of zero width. The field of view of a real laser range finder can vary widely depending on the model; ranges from 0.5 degrees to 25 degrees are commonly found, but a real sensor will never have a zero degrees field of view.

• For a real sensor, detection depends on the object surface. Reflective or transparent materials may not be detected. The simulated sensor does not consider reflectiveness or transparency.

Configurations

Default values are shown below.

"type": "LaserRangeSensor",
"options": {
  "rayLength": 400,
}

rayLength: Maximum distance detectable by the laser range sensor.