Long-range depth imaging using a single-photon detector array and non-local data fusion
Abstract
The ability to measure and record high-resolution depth images at long stand-off distances is important for a wide range of applications, including connected and automotive vehicles, defense and security, and agriculture and mining. In LIDAR (light detection and ranging) applications, single-photon sensitive detection is an emerging approach, offering high sensitivity to light and picosecond temporal resolution, and consequently excellent surface-to-surface resolution. The use of large format CMOS single-photon detector arrays provides high spatial resolution and allows the timing information to be acquired simultaneously across many pixels. In this work, we combine state-of-the-art single-photon detector array technology with non-local data fusion to generate high resolution three-dimensional depth information of long-range targets. The system is based on a visible pulsed illumination system at 670~nm and a 240~ 320 pixel array sensor, achieving sub-centimeter precision in all three spatial dimensions at a distance of 150 meters. The non-local data fusion combines information from an optical image with sparse sampling of the single-photon array data, providing accurate depth information at low signature regions of the target.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1812.04943,
title = {Long-range depth imaging using a single-photon detector array and non-local data fusion},
author = {Susan Chan and Abderrahim Halimi and Feng Zhu and Istvan Gyongy and Robert K. Henderson and Richard Bowman and Steve McLaughlin and Gerald S. Buller and Jonathan Leach},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1812.04943},
year = {2018}
}