Edge detecting methods and implement on laser peak detection of SLR system

Highly automation is a direction of Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR). The optical path of the laser in the domestic SLR system often shows instability, which causes errors in the laser orientation and greatly lowers the laser echo rate. In order to improve the laser echo rate, it's essential to calibrate the laser orientation real-timely. Firstly it's requisite to obtain precise pointing of laser beam-peak, whose effective way is to locate the position of the beam-peak which is imaged on the CCD because of the effect of backward scattering. Then the target-missing quantity of the position of the beam-peak is calculated and transmitted to the servo system of the adjustable mounts for calibrating the laser orientation. Using Harris corner detecting algorithm, this paper detects the beam-peak of laser, gives the precise point of beam-peak and lays a foundation for improving the automation of SLR system.