CMU Very Fast Range-Imaging System

Abstract : We present a high-speed range-imaging system based on a VLSI computational sensor developed in the CMU Computer Science Department. The VLSI range sensor is a custom chip consisting of an array of cells which combine photo-sensing and computation. Unlike conventional 'step-and-repeat' light- stripe range finders, our sensor gathers range images in parallel as a scene is swept by a continuously moving, plane of light. A prototype range-finding system has been built using a second-generation sensor and is capable of acquiring a 32 x 32 point frame of 3-D measurements in a millisecond - two orders of magnitude faster than currently available range-finding systems. The accuracy and the repeatability of the acquired range data has been measured to he less than 0.2%. In this paper, we discuss the range-finding system and present experimental results that measure its performance.