Abstract
With their significant features, the applications of complementary metal-oxidesemiconductor (CMOS) image sensors covers a very extensive range, from industrialautomation to traffic applications such as aiming systems, blind guidance, active/passiverange finders, etc. In this paper CMOS image sensor-based active and passive rangefinders are presented. The measurement scheme of the proposed active/passive rangefinders is based on a simple triangulation method. The designed range finders chieflyconsist of a CMOS image sensor and some light sources such as lasers or LEDs. Theimplementation cost of our range finders is quite low. Image processing software to adjustthe exposure time (ET) of the CMOS image sensor to enhance the performance oftriangulation-based range finders was also developed. An extensive series of experimentswere conducted to evaluate the performance of the designed range finders. From theexperimental results, the distance measurement resolutions achieved by the active rangefinder and the passive range finder can be better than 0.6% and 0.25% within themeasurement ranges of 1 to 8 m and 5 to 45 m, respectively. Feasibility tests onapplications of the developed CMOS image sensor-based range finders to the automotivefield were also conducted. The experimental results demonstrated that our range finders arewell-suited for distance measurements in this field.
Highlights
The triangulation method is a well-established approach in distance measurement
Low cost and integrated high-performance complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensors are used in the designed range finders
The CMOS image sensors feature viable exposure time (ET) control and addressing local zone of captured image so that high accuracy and stability of the designed range finders applied to distance measurement can be achieved
Summary
Triangulation method-based optical range finders usually use a light spot as a reference for distance measurement. Applications of the CCD imager were proposed in many fields, including the triangulation measurement, character recognition, optical tracking, on-line inspection, etc. Utilizing CMOS image sensors to replace array detectors and CCDs can simplify the signal processing procedures and reduce the auxiliary electronic components of the measurement systems. As the manufacturing technology of the CMOS image sensors [3,4] has advanced sufficiently to provide good stability and to achieve low cost, such sensors serve as alternatives of CCD sensors and have become significant in many optical applications. The ET control is very important for the performance experiments of our designed ranger finders in industrial and automotive applications. Based on the triangulation method, the designed active/passive range finders are applied to the industrial and automotive fields. An extensive series of performance experiments are conducted and the main factors affecting their accuracy in distance measurement are discussed in this paper
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