Spot Tracking and TDC Sharing in SPAD Arrays for TOF LiDAR
Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) is a widespread technique for 3D ranging and has widespread use in most automated systems that must interact with the external environment, for instance in industrial and security applications. In this work, we study a novel architecture for Single Photon Avalanch...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-04-01
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| Series: | Sensors |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/21/9/2936 |
| _version_ | 1797536737587625984 |
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| author | Vincenzo Sesta Fabio Severini Federica Villa Rudi Lussana Franco Zappa Ken Nakamuro Yuki Matsui |
| author_facet | Vincenzo Sesta Fabio Severini Federica Villa Rudi Lussana Franco Zappa Ken Nakamuro Yuki Matsui |
| author_sort | Vincenzo Sesta |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) is a widespread technique for 3D ranging and has widespread use in most automated systems that must interact with the external environment, for instance in industrial and security applications. In this work, we study a novel architecture for Single Photon Avalanche Diode (SPAD) arrays suitable for handheld single point rangefinders, which is aimed at the identification of the objects’ position in the presence of strong ambient background illumination. The system will be developed for an industrial environment, and the array targets a distance range of about 1 m and a precision of few centimeters. Since the laser spot illuminates only a small portion of the array, while all pixels are exposed to background illumination, we propose and validate through Monte Carlo simulations a novel architecture for the identification of the pixels illuminated by the laser spot to perform an adaptive laser spot tracking and a smart sharing of the timing electronics, thus significantly improving the accuracy of the distance measurement. Such a novel architecture represents a robust and effective approach to develop SPAD arrays for industrial applications with extremely high background illumination. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T12:05:03Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-bd2ec1248d7344b89cf5ac9714c629fa |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1424-8220 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T12:05:03Z |
| publishDate | 2021-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Sensors |
| spelling | doaj.art-bd2ec1248d7344b89cf5ac9714c629fa2023-11-21T16:39:32ZengMDPI AGSensors1424-82202021-04-01219293610.3390/s21092936Spot Tracking and TDC Sharing in SPAD Arrays for TOF LiDARVincenzo Sesta0Fabio Severini1Federica Villa2Rudi Lussana3Franco Zappa4Ken Nakamuro5Yuki Matsui6Politecnico di Milano, Dipartimento di Elettronica, Informazione e Bioingegneria, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, I-20133 Milano, ItalyPolitecnico di Milano, Dipartimento di Elettronica, Informazione e Bioingegneria, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, I-20133 Milano, ItalyPolitecnico di Milano, Dipartimento di Elettronica, Informazione e Bioingegneria, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, I-20133 Milano, ItalyPolitecnico di Milano, Dipartimento di Elettronica, Informazione e Bioingegneria, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, I-20133 Milano, ItalyPolitecnico di Milano, Dipartimento di Elettronica, Informazione e Bioingegneria, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, I-20133 Milano, ItalyOMRON Corporation, Technology and Intellectual Property H.Q., 9-1 Kizugawadai, Kizugawa-City, Kansai Science City, Kyoto 619-0283, JapanOMRON Corporation, Technology and Intellectual Property H.Q., 9-1 Kizugawadai, Kizugawa-City, Kansai Science City, Kyoto 619-0283, JapanLight Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) is a widespread technique for 3D ranging and has widespread use in most automated systems that must interact with the external environment, for instance in industrial and security applications. In this work, we study a novel architecture for Single Photon Avalanche Diode (SPAD) arrays suitable for handheld single point rangefinders, which is aimed at the identification of the objects’ position in the presence of strong ambient background illumination. The system will be developed for an industrial environment, and the array targets a distance range of about 1 m and a precision of few centimeters. Since the laser spot illuminates only a small portion of the array, while all pixels are exposed to background illumination, we propose and validate through Monte Carlo simulations a novel architecture for the identification of the pixels illuminated by the laser spot to perform an adaptive laser spot tracking and a smart sharing of the timing electronics, thus significantly improving the accuracy of the distance measurement. Such a novel architecture represents a robust and effective approach to develop SPAD arrays for industrial applications with extremely high background illumination.https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/21/9/2936Single Photon Avalanche Diode (SPAD)Light Detection and Ranging (Lidar)Time-of-Flight (TOF) measurementsRegion of Interest (ROI)Time-to-Digital Converter (TDC) |
| spellingShingle | Vincenzo Sesta Fabio Severini Federica Villa Rudi Lussana Franco Zappa Ken Nakamuro Yuki Matsui Spot Tracking and TDC Sharing in SPAD Arrays for TOF LiDAR Sensors Single Photon Avalanche Diode (SPAD) Light Detection and Ranging (Lidar) Time-of-Flight (TOF) measurements Region of Interest (ROI) Time-to-Digital Converter (TDC) |
| title | Spot Tracking and TDC Sharing in SPAD Arrays for TOF LiDAR |
| title_full | Spot Tracking and TDC Sharing in SPAD Arrays for TOF LiDAR |
| title_fullStr | Spot Tracking and TDC Sharing in SPAD Arrays for TOF LiDAR |
| title_full_unstemmed | Spot Tracking and TDC Sharing in SPAD Arrays for TOF LiDAR |
| title_short | Spot Tracking and TDC Sharing in SPAD Arrays for TOF LiDAR |
| title_sort | spot tracking and tdc sharing in spad arrays for tof lidar |
| topic | Single Photon Avalanche Diode (SPAD) Light Detection and Ranging (Lidar) Time-of-Flight (TOF) measurements Region of Interest (ROI) Time-to-Digital Converter (TDC) |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/21/9/2936 |
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