Three lidar receiver technologies using the total laser energy required to perform a set of imaging tasks are compared. The tasks are combinations of two collection types (3-D mapping from near and far), two scene types (foliated and unobscured), and three types of data products (geometry only, geometry plus 3-bit intensity, and geometry plus 6-bit intensity). The receiver technologies are based on Geiger mode avalanche photodiodes (GMAPD), linear mode avalanche photodiodes (LMAPD), and optical time-of-flight lidar, which combine rapid polarization rotation of the image and dual low-bandwidth cameras to generate a 3-D image. We choose scenarios to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of various lidars. We consider HgCdTe and InGaAs variations of LMAPD cameras. The InGaAs GMAPD and the HgCdTe LMAPD cameras required the least energy to 3-D map both scenarios for bare earth, with the GMAPD taking slightly less energy. We comment on the strengths and weaknesses of each receiver technology. Six bits of intensity gray levels requires substantial energy using all camera modalities.
This paper will discussion multiple flash lidar camera options and will compare sensitivity by calculating the required energy to map a certain area under specific conditions. We define two basic scenarios, and in each scenario look at bare earth 3D imaging, 3D imaging with 64 grey levels, or 6 bits of grey scale, 3D imaging with 3 return pulses from different ranges per detector element, and 3D imaging with both grey scale and multiple returns in each detector. We will compare Gieger Mode Avalanche Photo-Diodes, GMAPDs, Linear Mode Avalanche PhotoDiodes, LMAPDs, and low bandwidth cameras traditionally used for 2D imaging, but capable of being used for 3D imaging in conjunction with a rapid polarization rotation stage.
KEYWORDS: Sensors, 3D acquisition, Fluctuations and noise, Mars, Space operations, LIDAR, 3D metrology, 3D image processing, Light sources and illumination, Imaging systems
TetraVue is developing a MegaPixel-class 3D camera system that uniquely addresses autonomous spacecraft requirements for a situational awareness sensor during the planetary landing phase. TetraVue's system uses a novel approach to FLASH LIDAR which utilizes existing commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) focal plane arrays in a single aperture module. This makes the system flexible enough to adapt to different resolution requirements without reinventing the hardware architecture or develop new imaging sensors with custom readout circuitry. Since the system uses a nanosecond-class laser as an illumination source, similar to a strobe, the data is insensitive to any discernable cross-motion which make it ideally suitable for landing site selection during the horizontal coast phase.
Femtosecond laser ablation has been shown to produce well-defined cuts and holes in metals with minimal heat effect to the remaining material. Ultrashort laser pulse processing shows promise as an important technique for materials processing. We will discuss the physical effects associated with processing based experimental and modeling results. Intense ultra-short laser pulse (USLP) generates high pressures and temperatures in a subsurface layer during the pulse, which can strongly modify the absorption. We carried out simulations of USLP absorption versus material and pulse parameters. The ablation rate as function of the laser parameters has been estimated. Since every laser pulse removes only a small amount of material, a practical laser processing system must have high repetition rate. We will demonstrate that planar ablation is unstable and the initially smooth crater bottom develops a corrugated pattern after many tens of shots. The corrugation growth rate, angle of incidence and the polarization of laser electric field dependence will be discussed. In the nonlinear stage, the formation of coherent structures with scales much larger than the laser wavelength was observed. Also, there appears to be a threshold fluence above which a narrow, nearly perfectly circular channel forms after a few hundred shots. Subsequent shots deepen this channel without significantly increasing its diameter. The role of light absorption in the hole walls will be discussed.
The use of femtosecond lasers allows materials processing of practically any material with extremely high precision and minimal collateral damage. Advantages over conventional laser machining (using pulses longer than a few tens of picoseconds) are realized by depositing the laser energy into the electrons of the material on a time scale short compared to the transfer time of this energy to the bulk of the material, resulting in increased ablation efficiency and negligible shock or thermal stress. The improvement in the morphology by using femtosecond pulses rather than nanosecond pulses has been studied in numerous materials from biological materials to dielectrics to metals. During the drilling process, we have observed the onset of small channels which drill faster than the surrounding material.
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