PRECISION MODERATE-RANGE COHERENT LASER RADAR FOR TELEROBOTICS USING EYESAFE DIODE-PUMPED LASERS

A FAST, ACCURATE, COMPACT, AND RADIATION-IMMUNE SYSTEM FOR RANGE MEASUREMENTS AT SHORT AND MODERATE RANGE WOULD BE USEFUL IN MANY INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS, INCLUDING HAZARDOUS WORK IN HIGH-RADIATION ENVIRONMENTS. THIS PROJECT WILL INVESTIGATE A SYSTEM THAT COULD SIGNIFICANTLY ADVANCE THE STATE OF THE ART IN PRECISION OPTICAL RANGING AT MODERATE RANGE. THE SYSTEM WOULD BE A CONTINUOUS WAVE (CW) COHERENT LASER RADAR BASED ON THE EYESAFE, VERY KONG COHERENCE LENGTH LASERS WHICH HAVE ALREADY BEEN DEVELOPED. THE SYSTEM WOULD MAKE USE OF OPTICAL FIBE, AND WOULD BE DESIGNED SO THAT ALL THE LASERS AND ELECTRONICS WOULD BE REMOTE FROM THE MEASURING HEAD. THE MEASURING HEAD WOULD CONTAIN ONLY PASSIVE OPTICAL COMPONENTS, AND WOULD BE LOW COST AND RADIATION IMMUNE RELATIVE TO THE REMOTE OPTO-ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS. THE TYPE OF LASER RADAR TO BE USED WOULD BE A COHERENT CW TONE-MODULATED RADAR WITH THE TONE FREQUENCY ADJUSTED TO PHASE-LOCK THE RETURN SIGNAL TO THE OUTGOING SIGNAL. HETERODYNE DETECTION WOULD BE USED, AND THE UNMODULATED PART OF THE RETURN SIGNAL WOULD BE USED AS A PHASE REFERENCE FOR PHASE LOCKING. DURING PHASE I, THIS SYSTEM WOULD FIRST BE MODELED, AND THEN A BENCHTOP PROTOTYPE BUILT. A DIODE-PUMPED SINGLE-FREGUENCY LASER WOULD BE BUILT AT 1415 NM, WHICH IS AN IDEAL LASER RADAR WAVELENGTH.