Considering the movement of the laser source for classification in IEC 60825-1

Abstract

Within the development process of the international laser product safety standard IEC 60825-1 towards a more appropriate description of complex new laser devices, the case of a moving laser source (such as mounted on a vehicle) has to be considered. It is currently implied to handle such a case as scanning radiation with a stationary aperture stop, which is not restrictive enough in some cases: assuming an observer which is moving at the same speed as the vehicle, the emission duration cannot be reduced as it is done for the case of a radially scanning laser. We therefore suggest the modification of the standard which should consider a moving aperture which leads to the consideration of the full classification time base. Also a measurement aperture does not need to be placed at a distance at which no observer can be expected (due to the speed of the laser source). For situations of a relative speed of zero (moving observer) the worst case distance has to be estimated by mechanical criteria. The proposal is similar to the consideration of a virtual enclosure as for instance defined by distance sensors, but here the speed of the platform is the basis for the classification distance.Within the development process of the international laser product safety standard IEC 60825-1 towards a more appropriate description of complex new laser devices, the case of a moving laser source (such as mounted on a vehicle) has to be considered. It is currently implied to handle such a case as scanning radiation with a stationary aperture stop, which is not restrictive enough in some cases: assuming an observer which is moving at the same speed as the vehicle, the emission duration cannot be reduced as it is done for the case of a radially scanning laser. We therefore suggest the modification of the standard which should consider a moving aperture which leads to the consideration of the full classification time base. Also a measurement aperture does not need to be placed at a distance at which no observer can be expected (due to the speed of the laser source). For situations of a relative speed of zero (moving observer) the worst case distance has to be estimated by mechanical criteria. The proposal i...