Patent attributes
In a matrix of light detectors forming a part of a three-dimensional measurement sensor, outputs of light detectors belonging to a same row are connected to a common signal line. An output of each light detector is read, through scanning by the horizontal scan circuit, to the signal line from left to right in order, during a horizontal scan period which is sufficiently short such that slit light of a light-sectioning method can be assumed to be substantially stationary. A position detector determines a time from start of the horizontal scan period until detection of a maximum peak of a signal in the signal line. The time indicates a distance from an end of the row from which scanning is started to the light detector detecting the peak of the slit light. A recording processor records a value of a distance determined by the position detector in correspondence to a value of a counter indicating a projection angle of the slit angle.