Range-precision improvement of a time-of-flight range sensor using dual reference plane sampling

Area of Science:

• Optics and Photonics
• 3-D Imaging Technologies
• Metrology and Measurement Science

Background:

• Time-of-flight (TOF) range imaging is crucial for 3-D scanning applications.
• Achieving high range precision, especially below 100 µm, remains a challenge.
• Driver jitter in TOF imagers significantly limits achievable range precision.

Purpose of the Study:

• To improve the range precision of TOF range imagers to the sub-100 µm level.
• To investigate the effectiveness of dual reference plane sampling (DRPS) in mitigating driver jitter.
• To demonstrate a proof-of-concept system for high-precision 3-D scanning.

Main Methods:

• Implementation of a novel dual reference plane sampling (DRPS) technique.
• Utilizing two short-pulse lasers within the TOF range imager setup.
• Development and testing of a proof-of-concept measurement system.

Main Results:

• DRPS effectively reduced driver jitter, a key limitation in TOF range precision.
• A significant reduction in column-to-column variation of range precision was observed.
• Achieved high range precision of 52 µm (single frame) and 27 µm (10-frame average).

Conclusions:

• Dual reference plane sampling is a viable method for enhancing TOF range imager precision.
• The developed system demonstrates the capability to achieve sub-100 µm range precision.
• This advancement has significant implications for high-accuracy 3-D scanning applications.