Abstract
The system design and the system performance analysis of 3D imaging laser radar system for the mapping purpose is addressed in this article. For the mapping, a push-bloom scanning method is utilized. The pulsed fiber laser with high pulse energy and high pulse repetition rate is used for the light source of laser radar system. The high sensitive linear mode InGaAs avalanche photo-diode is used for the laser receiver module. The time-of-flight of laser pulse from the laser to the receiver is calculated by using high speed FPGA based signal processing board. To reduce the walk error of laser pulse regardless of the intensity differences between pulses, the time of flight is measured from peak to peak of laser pulses. To get 3D image with a single pixel detector, Risley scanner which stirs the laser beam in an ellipsoidal pattern is used. The system laser energy budget characteristics is modeled using LADAR equation, from which the system performances such as the pulse detection probability, false alarm and etc. are analyzed and predicted. The test results of the system performances are acquired and compared with the predicted system performance. According to test results, all the system requirements are satisfied. The 3D image which was acquired by using the laser radar system is also presented in this article.