Design and calibration of a rotating laser transmitter for fast and high-precision laser self-levelling system

Integrating a high-precision laser levelling system with fast, wide-range and convenient features remains a challenging task. This study focuses on optimizing the design of a rotating laser transmitter to meet the requirements of fast and high-precision laser self-levelling system. The structural design, error analysis and levelling method of a rotating laser transmitter are described in detail, and a high-precision solid tilt sensor is utilized to replace some commonly used bubble sensors, which improves the levelling speed combined with the proposed levelling algorithm. Furthermore, an efficient digital error compensation scheme is developed to improve the levelling accuracy and reduce the calibration workloads. The experiential results show that the levelling accuracy can reach to 10″ by taking 4–15 s under normal operating conditions, and the maximum levelling range can reach to ±15°. Moreover, all the levelling work can be completed by one person.