A LiDAR imaging system using temporal and polarization discrimination for turbid media

Maria Ballesta-Garcia; Sara Peña-Gutiérrez; Ana Rodríguez-Aramendía; Pablo García-Gómez; Noel Rodrigo; Santiago Royo

doi:10.1117/12.2672463

9 August 2023 A LiDAR imaging system using temporal and polarization discrimination for turbid media

Maria Ballesta-Garcia, Sara Peña-Gutiérrez, Ana Rodríguez-Aramendía, Pablo García-Gómez, Noel Rodrigo, Santiago Royo

Proceedings Volume 12621, Multimodal Sensing and Artificial Intelligence: Technologies and Applications III; 126210N (2023) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2672463
Event: SPIE Optical Metrology, 2023, Munich, Germany

Abstract

In recent times, there has been a surge of interest in LiDAR imaging systems, particularly in outdoor terrestrial applications associated with computer vision. However, a significant hurdle preventing their widespread implementation lies in their limited tolerance for adverse weather conditions, such as fog. To address this challenge, researchers have explored the capability of polarization in improving detection capabilities in such media. This paper explores the potential of LiDAR technology to obtain polarized images through fog and investigates the impact of fog on object detection using digitized temporal signals and point clouds. The study utilizes a LiDAR-polarized imaging system using circular polarization, which has been shown to enhance image contrast in highly-dispersive media. The analysis of the polarimetric information of the backscattered light signal in fog reveals its influence on object detection and evaluates the range difference between orthogonal polarimetric channels: coplanar and cross-configuration. The results demonstrate that cross-configuration detection provides larger range and more detailed point clouds compared to co-planar configuration, particularly benefiting metallic objects, for the same foggy conditions. By utilizing circularly polarized incident light and cross-configuration detection, the LiDAR system can improve the signal-to-noise ratio by filtering out the co-polarized fog responses. However, the range of the system may be reduced compared to non-polarized detection. Overall, our findings indicate that utilizing a cross-polarization detection setup can effectively reduce the impact of fog backscatter while preserving the return signal from objects of interest in the majority of cases.

Conference Presentation

Citation Download Citation

Maria Ballesta-Garcia, Sara Peña-Gutiérrez, Ana Rodríguez-Aramendía, Pablo García-Gómez, Noel Rodrigo, and Santiago Royo "A LiDAR imaging system using temporal and polarization discrimination for turbid media", Proc. SPIE 12621, Multimodal Sensing and Artificial Intelligence: Technologies and Applications III, 126210N (9 August 2023); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2672463

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