Data fusion of photonic Doppler velocimetry and broadband laser ranging

By combining broadband laser ranging (BLR) and photonic Doppler velocimetry (PDV), it is possible to take independent measurements of velocity and position from the same point. Through the combination of the measurements it should be possible to reduce uncertainty in the estimates of velocity and position, but currently, there is not an established methodology for how this can be achieved in practice. A Kalman filter-based data fusion process combining displacement and velocity data has been developed to address the issues of asynchronous measurements and filter parameter determination. First, the filter parameters were optimized on a representative test shock problem. Next, experimental validation was conducted. A 10 MHz fs laser-based BLR system and a continuous PDV system were used to take measurements in an explosively driven, double shock experiment. The double shock consisted of a shock-induced free-surface acceleration to ∼0.9 km s-1 with a second acceleration increasing free-surface velocity by ∼0.2 km s-1. The analysis developed was successfully applied to the experimental data, increasing the amount of displacement data by a factor of 10.