Introducing the 360 Degree Laser Scanner Development Kit (RPLIDAR)

michinyon:
How is this based on "Laser triangulation ranging principle" ? Doesn't it measure the distance by measuring the travel time for the light pulse to the reflecting object and back again ? That isn't.. triangulation....

The below shows the angular setup. The laser dot will be detected at a point on the sensor's x active area depending on the distance the reflecting object is from the laser.

http://www.faqs.org/patents/imgfull/20100030380_06