Study of the Time-of-Flight Method for Measuring Distances to Objects Using an Active-Pulse Television Measuring System

Taking into account the development of detection technologies and determining the coordinates of objects in space, requirements to devices that measure distances to objects are getting tougher. Such a problem has always been present in geodesy, construction, military affairs, etc. Currently, it affects the field of robotics, medicine, as well as the field of logistics and industrial control. Typical range measuring instruments such as phase and laser rangefinders, thermal imagers and radar stations are being replaced by new systems, which field of application is much wider than the usual determination of the distance to an object. The new generation video cameras are used for recognizing gestures and forms, building three-dimensional images, and also for shooting in poor visibility conditions. This paper presents the results of a ranging experiment using an active-pulse television measurement system. The pulse measurement method used in time-of-flight cameras was applied as a range measurement method. As a result of the experiment, a depth map was obtained, which is an image whose pixel values corresponds the distance to the observed point in the field of view of an active-pulse television measurement system. The results of measuring distances to test objects with an indication of the absolute error of range measurement are presented. The work also describes the principles of active-pulse television measuring systems operation, the active vision field of such systems is considered. A detailed description of the range measurement algorithm using pulse method is given. The main technical characteristics of the active-pulse television measuring system laboratory prototype used in the experiment and developed in the laboratory of television automation at the Department of Television and Management of Tomsk State University of Control Systems and Radio Electronics are indicated.