A while ago there was a request for a laser distance measuring device, however it was suggested that it would have been cheaper to purchase a an off-the-shelf device.
How about though if one were to hack a low cost but fairly accurate laser measure (EDM type), or perhaps find a EDM type module, and stick it in a pan tilt type mount with axis rotation encoders in an attempt to turn it into a low cost surveyors 'total station'.
Sure there are the likes of Leica's nice '3D Disto' already on the market, however it is priced at around the £5k mark.
I think that my current Disto EDM is accurate to somewhere in the region of +/- 1mm at 200m, so for distance at least accuracy is accurate enough for a lot of tasks. Whether or not one can make or repurpose a pan tilt mount that can do that accuracy any justice is of course another matter.
However, the initial aim for such a device is to speed up importing rough dimensions in 3D of room interiors into 3D CAD applications for visualisation purposes.
