There are also optional breakout and Bluetooth boards to connect sensors like range finders, IR proximity sensors, photo detectors and thermostats.

ENGADGET

And those maps will come in handy, with GPS capabilities being built into everything from mobile phones to range finders that can help golfers fine-tune their games.

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As they wove around the maze, the Lingobots created spatial maps of their surroundings, with the help of on-board cameras, laser range finders and sonar equipment that helped them avoid walls.

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The U.S. military has also invested in a range of flexible solar-panel technologies designed to power everything from night vision equipment and image intensification devices to laser-range finders, battlefield-ready laptop computers.

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Laser range-finders (Bushnell, with its Pinseeker line, is the leading name) shoot the yardage to a particular target.

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