The distance to the crop surface was calculated by way of a triangulation. The infrared beams and the reflected lights were deflected by two mirrors and three stepping motors to scan the crop and the shape of the crop surface was measured. Five points were measured simultaneously using five LEDs and five PSDs to get the quick measuring speed. The distances to 2000 points of the crop surface were measured within O.7s.
The color of the crop was also measured by a color TV camera. The measuring experiment of Mandarin Orange was done. The shape of the crop within the distance of several tens cm from the sensor could be measured with fairly good accuracy and the fruits could be distinguished from leaves and stems by the difference of color.