Three-dimensional imaging with 1.06μm Geiger-mode ladar camera

Three-dimensional (3D) topographic imaging using Short wavelength infrared (SWIR) Laser Detection and Range (LADAR) systems have been successfully demonstrated on various platforms. LADAR imaging provides coverage down to inch-level fidelity and allows for effective wide-area terrain mapping. Recently Spectrolab has demonstrated a compact 32×32 LADAR camera with single photon-level sensitivity with small size, weight, and power (SWAP) budget. This camera has many special features such as non-uniform bias correction, variable range gate width from 2 microseconds to 6 microseconds, windowing for smaller arrays, and shorted pixel protection. Boeing integrated this camera with a 1.06 μm pulse laser on various platforms and had demonstrated 3D imaging. In this presentation, the operation details of this camera and 3D imaging demonstration using this camera on various platforms will be presented.