LABORATORY DEMONSTRATION OF INNOVATIVE, COMPACT 3-D IMAGING SENSOR

THIS PROJECT WILL EXPERIMENTALLY DETERMINE THE FEASIBILITY OF OBTAINING A HIGH-RESOLUTION, THREE-DIMENSIONAL IMAGE OF A SCENE USING AN INNOVATIVE, FOCAL-PLANE PROCESSOR TO PRODUCE A COMPACT OPTICAL SENSOR. THE INNOVATION IS IN THE GATING OF THE IMAGE INTENSIFIER TO DEMODULATE AN AMPLITUDE-MODULATED LASER BEAM. THIS OPTICAL HOMODYNE PROCESS USES FOCAL-PLANE PROCESSING TO ACQUIRE THE THREE-DIMENSIONAL SCENE. THE ADVANTAGES OF THIS SENSOR OVEREXISTING SENSORS WILL BE REDUCED SIZE AND WEIGHT, REDUCED POWER CONSUMPTION, AND INCREASED RELIABILITY. IN ADDITION, THE SENSOR'S RANGE AND REFLECTANCE IMAGERY PERFORMANCE WILL BE EQUAL TO OR EXCEED CURRENT-GENERATION SENSORS. THIS THREE-DIMENSIONAL SENSOR CAN BE USED TO ENHANCE AUTONOMOUS AND TELE-OPERATED ROBOTIC APPLICATIONS FOR MAINTENANCE AND SATELLITE RETRIEVAL AS WELL AS SPACE-VEHICLE RENDEZVOUS AND DOCKING. THE EFFORT WILL USE FIVE MAJOR COMPONENTS: AN RF-MODULATED LASER DIODE; AN IMAGING LENS; A GATED-IMAGE INTENSIFIER; A CCD CAMERA; AND A DATA-ACQUISITION SYSTEM. THIS CONFIGURATION WILL BE USED TO OBTAIN RANGE IMAGERY AND TO CHARACTERIZE FULLY THE FOCAL-PLANE SIGNAL PROCESSING, FOURIER TERMS, AND SYSTEM EFFECTS FROM LASER POWER, AMBIENT LIGHT, STANDOFF DISTANCE, AND TARGET REFLECTIVITY. THIS PROJECT WILL EXPERIMENTALLY DETERMINE THE FEASIBILITY OF OBTAINING A HIGH-RESOLUTION, THREE-DIMENSIONAL IMAGE OF A SCENE USING AN INNOVATIVE, FOCAL-PLANE PROCESSOR TO PRODUCE A COMPACT OPTICAL SENSOR. THE INNOVATION IS IN THE GATING OF THE IMAGE INTENSIFIER TO DEMODULATE AN AMPLITUDE-MODULATED LASER BEAM. THIS OPTICAL HOMODYNE PROCESS USES FOCAL-PLANE PROCESSING TO ACQUIRE THE THREE-DIMENSIONAL SCENE. THE ADVANTAGES OF THIS SENSOR OVEREXISTING SENSORS WILL BE REDUCED SIZE AND WEIGHT, REDUCED POWER CONSUMPTION, AND INCREASED RELIABILITY. IN ADDITION, THE SENSOR'S RANGE AND REFLECTANCE IMAGERY PERFORMANCE WILL BE EQUAL TO OR EXCEED CURRENT-GENERATION SENSORS. THIS THREE-DIMENSIONAL SENSOR CAN BE USED TO ENHANCE AUTONOMOUS AND TELE-OPERATED ROBOTIC APPLICATIONS FOR MAINTENANCE AND SATELLITE RETRIEVAL AS WELL AS SPACE-VEHICLE RENDEZVOUS AND DOCKING. THE EFFORT WILL USE FIVE MAJOR COMPONENTS: AN RF-MODULATED LASER DIODE; AN IMAGING LENS; A GATED-IMAGE INTENSIFIER; A CCD CAMERA; AND A DATA-ACQUISITION SYSTEM. THIS CONFIGURATION WILL BE USED TO OBTAIN RANGE IMAGERY AND TO CHARACTERIZE FULLY THE FOCAL-PLANE SIGNAL PROCESSING, FOURIER TERMS, AND SYSTEM EFFECTS FROM LASER POWER, AMBIENT LIGHT, STANDOFF DISTANCE, AND TARGET REFLECTIVITY.