Fan triangulation

Fan triangulation is a way to figure out how far away something is using a special tool called a rangefinder or a theodolite. Let's say you have a toy car and you want to know how far away it is from you.

To start, you hold the rangefinder really steady and look through it. You will see a little screen or a lens where you can see the toy car.

The rangefinder has a special feature that helps you know the exact distance. It shoots out an invisible laser beam all the way to the toy car. When the beam hits the toy car, it bounces back to the rangefinder.

The rangefinder uses this information to calculate the time it took for the laser beam to go to the toy car and come back. It knows that the laser beam travels really fast, so it can use the time to figure out how far away the toy car is.

But here's where fan triangulation comes in. Instead of just using one measurement to find the distance, the rangefinder takes multiple measurements.

It does this by moving the rangefinder a little bit and taking another measurement. It might move in a straight line or in a circle. Each time it moves, it shoots out another laser beam and measures the time it takes for the beam to come back.

After it takes a few measurements, the rangefinder uses something called triangulation. Triangulation is like when you draw three lines on a piece of paper that meet at one point.

The rangefinder uses the three measurements to create a triangle in its computer. This triangle helps it calculate the distance to the toy car. The computer does some really complicated math to figure it out.

So, with fan triangulation, the rangefinder takes multiple measurements and uses them to create a triangle and calculate the distance to the toy car. And that's how fan triangulation works!