(Fraunhofer: Freiburg, Germany) -- Laser systems can be used to implement highly precise and ultrafast measuring processes. Railway measuring technology has a potentially huge worldwide market. One prerequisite for its use is that nobody is damaged or suffers irritations by the laser.

Heinrich Höfler and Harald Wölfelschneider from the Fraunhofer Institute for Physical Measurement Techniques (IPM) in Freiburg, Germany, have worked with their team to develop a 3-D laser scanner. It can be used outdoors without hesitation. Extremely fast and precise, it is able to spatially measure and monitor the position of the contact wire or train track from a train travelling at up to 100 km per hour (62 mph). If the scanner is stationary, it can capture passing trains and check for loads that might have slipped.

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