High Speed Line Range Sensor For Mobile Platforms

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Developing a range sensor for vehicle navigation within an unknown environment is a challenging problem. The combined requirements for a sensor's field of view, maximum range, and insensitivity to ambient light severely limit the potential speed and resolution of range sensors. In this paper, we describe a unique detector geometry used to implement a high speed, triangulation based line range sensor applicable to vehicle navigation scenarios. The range sensor derives its speed by simultaneously measuring off-axis angles to points along a target illuminated by a light stripe using an array of position sensitive detectors and an imaging lens. The position sensitivity of the array elements is derived from a unique triangular geometry designed to measure the lateral position of the light stripe image at high speed. We discuss the design, of the angle sensitive array and the line range system which uses the new detector geometry. In addition, we present experimental data generated from a range sensor based on this detector and show data from vehicle navigation experiments demonstrating the feasibility of this concept for mobile platform applications.

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: