Data-driven angular jitter estimator for lidar
US11830194B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Apr 24, 2020 |
| Grant date | Nov 28, 2023 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 12, 2042 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06T2207/10032
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
Space-based ground-imaging lidar has become increasingly feasible with recent advances in compact fiber lasers and single-photon-sensitive Geiger-mode detector arrays. A challenge with such a system is imperfect pointing knowledge caused by angular jitter, exacerbated by long distances between the satellite and the ground. Unless mitigated, angular jitter blurs the 3D lidar data. Unfortunately, using mechanical isolation, advanced IMUs, star trackers, or auxiliary passive optical sensors to reduce the error in pointing knowledge increases size, weight, power, and/or cost. Here, the 2-axis jitter time series is estimated from the lidar data. Simultaneously, a single-surface model of the ground is estimated as nuisance parameters. Expectation Maximization separates signal and background detections, while maximizing the joint posterior probability density of the jitter and surface states. The resulting estimated jitter, when used in coincidence processing or image reconstruction, can reduce the blurring effect of jitter to an amount comparable to the optical diffraction limit.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.