Range Information Characterization of the Hokuyo UST-20LX LIDAR Sensor

Matthew Cooper,Rick Patton,John Raquet

doi:10.3390/photonics5020012

Matthew Cooper, Rick Patton + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/photonics5020012

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Abstract

This paper presents a study on the data measurements that the Hokuyo UST-20LX Laser Rangefinder produces, which compiles into an overall characterization of the LiDAR sensor relative to indoor environments. The range measurements, beam divergence, angular resolution, error effect due to some common painted and wooden surfaces, and the error due to target surface orientation are analyzed. It was shown that using a statistical average of sensor measurements provides a more accurate range measurement. It was also shown that the major source of errors for the Hokuyo UST-20LX sensor was caused by something that will be referred to as “mixed pixels”. Additional error sources are target surface material, and the range relative to the sensor. The purpose of this paper was twofold: (1) to describe a series of tests that can be performed to characterize various aspects of a LIDAR system from a user perspective, and (2) present a detailed characterization of the commonly-used Hokuyo UST-20LX LIDAR sensor.

Highlights

Laser Scanning Radar or Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) [1] sensors are a common place in the the navigation and mapping world
LiDAR sensor calibration was an important element of sensor operation and the importance of this seemingly simple task was doubly important as LiDAR sensors are typically deemed a critical sensor in aerial agricultural evaluation, robotics, and autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)
LiDAR sensors are designed to measure ranging information and provide this to the user, but the information being displayed to the user may not be the true range

Summary

Introduction

Laser Scanning Radar or Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) [1] sensors are a common place in the the navigation and mapping world. It was necessary to characterize the sensor before real-world use Part of this characterization process will shed light on the expected error between measured ranges with the true range, object resolution at the target range as a function of angular resolution, and the variance and standard deviation of those measurements over time. Once this data was collected, and the internal but measurable error sources are identified, Photonics 2018, 5, 12; doi:10.3390/photonics5020012 www.mdpi.com/journal/photonics

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